PIC: ANTHONY MacMILLAN Religious freedom is key · Holy Father’s appeal for peace in Middle East...

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� Holy Father’s appeal for peace in Middle East is echoed by Lebanese priest visiting PaisleyBy Ian Dunn

POPE Benedict XVI believes peacecannot be achieved in the MiddleEast until the religious freedom ofChristians is respected there.This was the central message of the

Holy Father’s trip to Lebanon at theweekend, a message echoed by a visit-ing Lebanese priest who addressedScottish Catholics in Paisley yesterday.The Pope’s trip to Lebanon and Fr Sam-

mer Nassif’s visit to Scotland both tookplace at a time of increasing religious ten-sion and violence in the Middle East, exac-erbated recently by a US-made film thatdenigrated Islam. The violence that hasaccompanied the protests against that filmhas been in stark contrast with the messageof peace preached by the Pope on histhree-day apostolic visit to Lebanon.

Papal messagePeace requires a society that is based on‘mutual respect, a desire to know theother, and continuous dialogue,’ the HolyFather said at a multi-faith gathering ofLebanon’s political, religious and culturalleaders at the presidential palace in

Baabda last Saturday. He went on toexplain such dialogue can only arise fromfundamental human values, that are heldin common by different religions. Thus, the Pope said, ‘religious free-

dom is the basic right on which manyrights depend.’“The effectiveness of our commitment

to peace depends on our understanding ofhuman life,” he said. “If we want peace, letus defend life! This approach leads us toreject not only war and terrorism, but everyassault on innocent human life, on menand women as creatures willed by God.”In a reference to the many Middle

Eastern countries that restrict the prac-tice of Christianity, the Pope said thatthose nations must learn that freedommust go beyond ‘what nowadays passesfor tolerance,’ which he said ‘does noteliminate cases of discrimination’ butsometimes ‘even reinforces them.’“Freedom to profess and practice one’s

religion without danger to life and libertymust be possible to everyone,” he said.“Authentic faith does not lead to death.”

Scottish event Lebanese priest Fr Samer Nassif, who

spoke at Paisley’s St Mirin’s Cathedralabout the persecution Christians sufferin the Middle East, brought the impor-tance of the Pope’s message home toScottish Catholics. At the event, spon-sored by the Catholic charity Aid to theChurch in Need, Fr Nassif said that eventhough the Middle East was ‘Christian-ity’s cradle’ it was now hostile territoryto those of the faith.“Did you know that there were up to six

times more Christian martyrs in the 20thcentury than during the first four centuriesof Christianity?” he asked those gatheredat the talk. “Every five minutes, a Christianis martyred somewhere in the worldbecause of Christ. From Morocco toPakistan, with the notable exception ofLebanon and Armenia, the Christians of theMiddle East undergo discrimination. Theyhave been persecuted for more than onemillennium and are deprived of their polit-ical, economic and religious freedoms.”Fr Nassif said persecution and emi-

gration had reduced Christians to a smallminority through much of the MiddleEast, but the Pope’s trip to his homelandof Lebanon could help reverse that.“Why did he choose my country?

Because in Lebanon, Christianity is stilla flourishing religion: it is the only freeChristianity in the Middle East,” he said.“After 40 years of Calvary, it is stillstanding triumphant. Lebanon is theonly Arab country which has a Christianand a Catholic president. Without Chris-tians, Lebanon would not exist. BlessedPope John Paul II said ‘Lebanon is morethan a country, it is a message.’”The message of Lebanon, Fr Nassif

averred, was that it was only Christiansthat could bring peace to the lands ofChrist’s birth.“Our Pope confirmed that, without

Christians, there is no possibility ofcoexistence, peace and forgivenessbetween different non-Christian religiouscommunities,” he said. “The Pope asksthe suffering Orient Church to becomeLight of Christ to our neighbours, theJews of Israel and to the vast Muslimworld that surrounds us by hundreds,and hundreds of millions.”

� Pope in Lebanon, pages 9, 12-13.Editorial, page 14

� [email protected]

By Ian Dunn

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien has said that Scot-tish Catholics must ‘not just live our Faith butopen that Faith to others,’ during the Year ofFaith that begins next month. Speaking at a Mass to mark the investiture of

Bishop Joseph Toal of Argyll and the Isles to theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre at St Columba’s Cathe-dral in Oban last Saturday, the cardinal said theupcoming Year of Faith would call upon allCatholics to embrace the New Evangelisation.“We are looking forward to the start of the Year

of Faith on October 11 and are working at present inputting together national and diocesan programmes,”Bishop Toal added. “A pastoral letter will bereleased shortly.”

Year of Faith“The Year of Faith will commemorate the celebrationof 50 years since the Second Vatican Council—as wellas commemorating also the publication of the Cate-chism of the Catholic Church some 20 years ago,”Cardinal O’Brien said. “The Pope in his own words

� Continued on page 3� Missio Scotland unveils Mission Month theme,Faith in Action in Year of Faith, page 2

LIVERPOOL IS FIRSTUK diocese to allow lay Catholics to preside at funerals.Page 8

LAITY’S FUNERAL ROLE

Scottish bishopsprepare for Yearof Faith to begin

PIC: ANTHONY MacMILLAN

Religious freedom is key

CARDINAL Keith O’Brienlaunched the annual Missionmonth of October alongsidethe pupils of St Peter’s Pri-mary School, Edinburgh, onTuesday.This year’s Mission Month

theme is Faith in Action, whichaims to highlight the work sup-ported by Scottish Catholics inmissionary dioceses in Ghana,Zimbabwe and India.Fr TomWelsh, national direc-

tor of MISSIO Scotland,explained more about the theme.“The theme is particularly

appropriate this year, as theannual focus on the missionary

work of the Church coincideswith the launch of the Year ofFaith, marking the 50th anniver-sary of the opening of the SecondVatican Council,” he said. “PopeBenedict has called all to reflecton and deepen our faith, which hedescribes as a gift which must beshared. This echoes the words ofhis predecessor, Blessed JohnPaul II, who encouraged everyparish, family and individual togive priority to the work of thePontifical Mission Societies asthe primary channel for meetingour missionary obligation.”The Pontifical Mission Soci-

eties are better known under the

title Missio Scotland and werefounded by a French laywomanin 1823. Last year MISSIO Scot-land raised almost £347,000 tosupport the missionary outreachof the Church. All parishionershave an opportunity to con-tribute to this on Mission Sun-day, October 21.

2 PICTURE NEWS SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012

LET THE SCO KNOWWHAT YOUR DIOCESE, DEANERY, ORDER, SCHOOL ORPARISH IS DOING TO SUPPORT AND PARTICIPATE IN THE YEAR OF FAITH.E-MAIL [email protected], CALL 0141 221 4956 OR WRITE TO

SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER 19 WATERLOO STREET GLASGOW, G2 6BT.

(Below) Cardinal Keith O’Brien andFr TomWelsh of MISSIO Scotlandunveil the Mission month Faith inAction theme with St Peter’sPrimary School pupils in Edinburgh.(Right) the cardinal with pupils JoeO’Boyle and Katie Simpson

PICS: PAUL McSHERRY

MISSIO Scotland, Cardinal O’Brien launchthe Mission month theme Faith in Action

SPOTLIGH

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...

Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell presented SrMonica Daly, from the Missionary Sisters of StPeter Claver, with a Papal Blessing to mark thesilver jubilee of her religious profession.

Bishop Devine celebrated a jubilee Mass atSacred Heart Church, Bellshill on Sunday, at whichSr Monica was joined by some of her fellow sistersfrom the order of St Peter Claver, including religiousfrom Dublin and Kent, her brother and three sistersfrom County Kildare in Ireland as well as manywell-wishers from across Scotland.

Fr Kevin McGoldrick, parish priest at SacredHeart, Canon Andrew Reen, former parish priest, FrStephen Reilly and priests of the Holy Ghost Fathersjoined Bishop Devine in celebrating the Mass.

Following the Mass, Sr Monica spoke of her deep

gratitude as the silver jubilee of her profession wasmarked.

“I couldn’t let this occasion pass without havingsome kind of get-together to express my deepgratitude to God, who led me to this great day, andto all of you for your support since my arrival herein Bellshill,” she said to those that had helped hercelebrate. “I think I speak for all our sisters when Isay the warmth, hospitality and generosity ofScottish people are second to none. As I celebratemy 25th anniversary of religious profession, I feeltruly blessed to be part of this wonderfulcommunity of believers and I want to say with OurLady that ‘my soul truly magnifies the Lord for Iknow He has done many great things for me.’”

PIC: TOM EADIE

Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell last Thursday ordained a new permanent deacon for the diocese. The ordinationof Bill McMillan was the second in as many weeks for the permanent dicaonate programme in Motherwell Diocese,following the ordination of Harry McKenna at St Patrick’s Church, Shotts, the previous Thursday. Mr McMillan, who wasordained by the bishop at St Benedict’s Church, Easterhouse, will serve the parish of St Columbkille’s, Rutherglen

PIC: PAUL McSHERRY

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� Continued from page 1

intends this year as the ‘summons to anauthentic and renewed conversion to theLord, the one saviour of the world’— and isalso enlisting the help of the recently formedPontifical Council for the Promotion of theNew Evangelisation.”Bishop Toal said the ‘lovely celebration’

at the investiture had been a welcome aper-itif for aYear of Faith which he said wouldbe ‘a time of blessing and growth for theChurch in Scotland.’ He added that Scot-land’s bishops hope that their letter andprogrammes ‘will stimulate a full andfruitful participation in theYear of Faith inour parishes, schools and Catholic bodies.“It should be a good stimulus for our com-

mitment to theNewEvangelisationwhich theSynod of Bishops is about to explore,” hesaid.

Special roleThe cardinal said that the Order of theHoly Sepulchre, which Bishop Toal hadjust joined, would have a special role toplay in this ‘witnessing the Kingdom ofGod, and spreading the Church, as well asworking for charity with the same pro-found spirit of faith and love.’The cardinal added that Argyll and the

Isles Diocese was preparing to mark a spe-cial anniversary of particular relevance tothe New Evangelisation.“We are preparing to celebrate the

1450th anniversary of the arrival of StColumba on the Island of Iona,” he said.“While we honour St Ninian of Galloway

as being the first missionary to bring thefaith to this land of Scotland we know thatSt Columba of Ireland and the monks whotravelled with him to Scotland were not farbehind in bringing the Christian messageto Scotland, especially to this west coast.”Scottish Catholics must now follow that

example, the cardinal said.“As the ‘Door of Faith’ was opened for

us here in our nation almost 1500 yearsago by St Columba of Iona, with thatsmall group of enthusiastic men he wasimitating the apostolate of Jesus Christwith His first 12 Apostles,” he said. “Thechallenge to them was enormous but theywere indeed people of good will who wereinspired by the Gospel of Jesus ChristHimself and were only too enthusiastic intheir task of a ‘New Evangelisation’ intheir time.”

Then and nowAs St Columba spread the Word of Godmore than a millennium ago, so today’sCatholics must spread the Faith in a hos-tile environment, the cardinal said.“This is what we are called upon to do at

this present time, inspired by the teachingof the SecondVatican Council, we now arecalled upon not just to live our Faith but toopen that Faith to others,” he added. “Ourenthusiasmmust take on practical parochialactions whereby we show the generationswhich are following us that the call of theGospel is alive for us and is being put in topractice in every way possible.”The cardinal also said that he hoped to

see many of those present in Rome next

year taking part in the ‘pilgrimage ofKnights of the Holy Sepulchre from allover the world to Pope Benedict XVI, theSuccessor of St Peter, on the knights pil-grimage to Rome during this Year of Faithin just one year’s time.’Bishop Toal said his investiture to the

order had been ‘beautifully celebrated’over a number of days, beginning at StColumba’s Catherdal in Oban with a ‘Vigilon Friday evening, then the investitureMass on Saturday followed by theMass ofThanksgiving on Sunday, finishing with apilgrimage to Iona on Monday.’The bishop said he had long been aware

of the order’s work due to its pilgrimagesto the Royal Scots College in Salamancaand had been delighted to accept the invi-tation to join.“Since I became bishop, I have been

invited on a number of occasions to becomeamember both by theScottishLieutenant andthemembers in Oban,” he said. “I acceptedthe invitation as I have been impressed bythe spirituality which draws us to the personof Christ in the PaschalMystery, and also bythe order’s commitment to supporting theChristian communities in The Holy Land,often recommended to all the bishops.”


Investiture precedes Year of Faith

ARCHBISHOP PhilipTartaglia of Glasgow haspaid tribute to the Sisters ofNotre Dame, saying they‘shaped Catholic educationin Scotland,’ at a Mass tomark their departure fromDumbarton after a centuryof service there.At St Patrick’s Church last

Saturday, Archbishop Tartagliasaid that while it was ‘sad’ thesisters were leaving Dumbar-ton, due to falling numbers ofvocations to the order, ‘God’sprovidence’ was at work asthey handed their responsibili-ties for education over to ‘laymen and women.’At one of his first official

engagements since beinginstalled, the new archbishopsaid he was delighted to returnto ‘St Patrick’s where I spenttwo happy years as assistantpriest.’Archbishop Tartaglia said he

was ‘delighted and honoured’to celebrate a ‘Mass of Thanks-giving for the presence andmission of the Sisters of NotreDame in Dumbarton from1908-2012, more than a cen-tury, giving the witness of reli-gious life of poverty, chastityand obedience, and carryingout their mission as religioussisters.’He also stressed that he had

personal experience of theorder’s excellent work educatinggenerations of young Catholics.“As a child, during the years

1956-1963, I was a pupil in StThomas’ Primary School, Rid-drie, on the east side of Glas-gow, which was led by thesisters,” he said. “I still remem-ber the headteacher, Sr Philom-ena, and the infant mistress, SrVincent. And my sister, Maria,was a pupil at the prestigiousNotre Dame High School for

girls in Glasgow with theirrather classy uniform, the onlyone of my five sisters to havegone there, and she still doesnot let us forget it!”The archbishop said he and

countless others owed thesisters a great debt for theirefforts.“On behalf of the Archdio-

cese of Glasgow, its bishops,priests and people, in so far aswords can do so, I today offerall the Sisters of Notre Damebased in Dumbarton over theselast 104 years a heartfelt andsincere thanks,” he said.“While it is true and right thatthe Sisters of Notre Dame herein Dumbarton will be mostremembered for their pioneer-ing, foundational and enduringwork in education over the lastcentury, the sisters have alsocontributed to the life of theChurch and to the communitythrough prayer, youth work,parish work, education for peo-ple with special learning needs,retreat work, community work,and activism on behalf ofwomen and of peace.”The archbishop said that

while it was ‘a pity that reli-gious women and men are nownot so evident in our Catholicschools’ it could be seen ‘asdevelopment guided by God’sprovidence in which religiousfirst share with and then handover this responsibility to laymen and women as they taketheir full place in the life andmission of the Church.’He added that he was also

pleased that, though the NotreDame sisters who had been inDumbarton had already movedto Liverpool, their premisescontinued to be a home for reli-gious life as the Carmelite Sis-ters had taken over thebuilding.

Archbishop Tartaglia bids fondfarewell to Dumbarton sisters

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Grand Prior of the Scot-tish Lieutenancy of the Order of the HolySepulchre, with Bishop Joseph Toal (left) andArchbishop Emritus Mario Conti of Glasgow(right), officials and new members of the order

PIC: PAUL McSHERRY

ArchbishopTartaglia cutsa farewellcake with SrEllen Gielty,former mothergeneral of theSisters ofNotre Damede NamurPIC: MARKCAMPBELL

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ACATHOLIC student fromEast Kilbride has spokenabout the unforgettable—but,at times, harr- owing—expe-rience of spending the past

year working with the poorest communi-ties and orphaned children in SouthAmerica.

This time last year, Amadita Garcia, aparishioner of St Leonard’s Church inEast Kilbride, was preparing to set off forBolivia, where she went on to spend sixmonths assisting at the Hogar SagradoCorazón (Sacred Heart Home) near SantaCruz.

This is where 150 girls—who havebeen abandoned, orphaned or in someway abused—call home and are cared forby two nuns and a small group of volun-teer helpers.

Work in progressAs Amadita explained, although theorphanage gives the girls a safe environ-ment, food and education, they are lack-ing in so many other areas of their lives.

“Every single girl has a heartbreakingstory,” Amadita said. “The place is built onsuffering.

“All the girls have problems, some havelost their parents, some of their mothers andfathers have beaten them or are drugaddicts, or they have been living on thestreets. They have psychological issues butthere is nobody to help them with this. Allthey really want is to have a mother figurein their lives.”

Amadita recalled one girl in particular,12-year-old Lizeth, as having a particularlyharrowing story.

“Lizeth’s mum had also been in theorphanage when she was younger,” Ama-dita said. “She then got married, but herhusband beat her and left her with her chil-dren. She later contracted cancer and diedwhen Lizeth was just 10 years old.”

She explained that Lizeth was then leftto look after her little sister, brother and ayoung baby but would still find time to visither mother when she was in hospital beforeher death.

“It has been incredible what she has beenthrough,” Amadita said. “All she wantedwhen I was at the orphanage was a motherand somebody to look after her.”

Scottish supportThroughout her time in Bolivia, Amaditawas glad to be able to pass on consider-able donations from Scottish schools andchurches, all from people keen to help inthe development of the Sacred Heartorphanage.

StAndrew’s and St Bride’s High School,St Leonard’s, St Kenneth’s and St Hilary’sprimary schools, all in East Kilbride, sentlarge sums of money to help the Bolivianorphans, in addition to the great supportreceived from Amadita’s own parish of StLeonard’s.

“I had such amazing support from theparish,” she said. “I didn’t expect that peo-ple would take so much interest. I sent pho-tos to my mum, who printed them off andmade a display for the parish to see wheretheir money was going and what I wasdoing.

“I got so many emails from people in theparish and teachers in the schools. Peoplewere giving my mum donations all thetime, even people that I have never spokento before, they were all giving donations tothe orphanage; it was incredible.

“I don’t know if people realise howmuch their help means to the communityout in Bolivia.”

Amadita went on to explain that onedonation in particular—a sum of more than€1000 from an uncle in Germany—wasable to save the life of a baby boy who wasbrought to the orphanage having beenfound abandoned on the street.

“He was only a couple of weeks old andhis name was Mateo,” she said.

“He was so ill that he was on the verge ofdeath. If he had been left on the street anylonger he would have died. I found it so sadthat some of the children we were lookingafter would have been brought to theorphanage in a similar situation.

The madre [mother] of the orphanagedidn’t have any money to pay for his med-icine.”

On hearing this news, Amadita’s uncledecided to do his own bit to help by organ-ising a fundraising concert. A cheque wassubsequently sent to the Bolivian homefrom Germany, and was used to pay formedicine for Mateo.

“This donation saved his life,” Amaditasaid. “It was amazing.”

LegacyAmadita explained that the community isin need of ongoing support to bolster thelittle funding the sisters receive from theBolivian authorities.

“As soon as they get any money theyhave to spend it, especially on maintenancefor the building as it is very old,” she said.“They only have four toilets for 150 girls.The building needs new roofing and thewalls are all crumbling.

“The girls do their best though and cleanthe building every day. It is incredible howhard they work.”

She added that, despite many of thegirls facing an uncertain future, allorphans at the Hogar Sagrado Corazónhave an overseas sponsor, each contribut-ing around $40 a year. Part of that dona-tion pays for each girl to get a birthdaypresent each year, while the rest of themoney is put into a savings account giv-ing the girls the opportunity to go to uni-versity after they have finished school.

As Amadita discovered, the care andattention the orphans receive from the sis-ters and volunteers can have a positive andlong-lasting impression on many of thegirls, some of whom choose to remainwithin the community in adult life.

“When I was there, there were four orfive older girls, who had been in theorphanage since they were babies and hadgrown up there,” she said. “They are at uni-versity studying law but they have chosento stay on in the orphanage and look afterthe younger girls as they know what theirlives are like.

“They have wanted to stay as they see itas their home.”

EcuadorFollowing her time in Bolivia, Amaditaspent time in Ecuador, firstly, workingwith her cousin, a missionary nurse, wholives in a jungle community near SantaMaria, and, secondly, in the shanty townof Nueva Prosperina in the city ofGuayaquil.

It was in Nueva Prosperina that Scot-tish priest Fr Martin Chambers recentlyspent five years, and the community hasmaintained strong links with Scotland.

Although experiencing similar levelsof poverty to what she witnessed in

Bolivia, Amadita spoke about the role ofthe family within the Nueva Prosperinacommunity, and how, even when facedwith some of the most challenging of cir-cumstances, the people ‘still manage tostay happy.’

This spirit and the determination tomake the most of life is something thatAmadita saw in abundance when work-ing at the local school.

“Just to get through a basic educa-tion—with all the problems these peopleare subjected too, such as gangs, drugs,knife-crime and living in poverty in ashanty town—is a miracle in itself,” shesaid. “It shows how strong these peopleare.”

The ‘extreme’ financial poverty suf-fered by those living in the jungle com-munity near Santa Maria is also incontrast to the richness of the love andcare they have for the family.

“The most simple thing for these peo-ple is so difficult,” Amadita said. “Iremember a lady there, Anna, who has sixchildren, all of whom are blind and heryoungest child has cerebral palsy. Annahas no wheelchair, and to get medicationfor her youngest child she has to carry herdown a steep hill to get to a canoe. Shewould then take her on a two-hour canoeride, followed by a four-hour bus ride,carrying her daughter throughout, just toget to the nearest hospital.”

On returning to Scotland, Amadita hasbegun a course studying law at GlasgowUniversity. She hopes, however, that shewill be able to continue supporting thecommunities that have shown her suchlove and care over the past year and, per-haps, have the opportunity to return andhelp them again in person.


MARTIN DUNLOP catches up with an East Kilbride parishioner returning from a year in the missions

Life-changing mission for young Scot(Above) East Kilbride’s Amadita’s god-daughter Yara, Mariluz, Lizeth and Heidy.Lizeth and Heidy are sisters. They had justfinished helping Amadita pack, and, as a littleremembrance, they pierced her ear to markher last day with them. (Inset) Lizeth, 12, withbaby Mateo. The baby’s head had been shavedby the madre (mother) upon his arrival atHogar Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart Home)near Santa Cruz, Bolivia, because he was insuch bad health

MSPs back newbid to legaliseassisted suicideBy Ian Dunn

MARGO MacDonald is tore-attempt to legalise assistedsuicide in Scotland just twoyears after MSPs overwhelm-ingly rejected her last pro-posal and her repeated effortswere labelled ‘democraticallydisingenuous’ by a Churchspokesman.

News this week that 18 of herfellow MSPs have backed herlatest bill—which as a resultwill be brought before the Scot-tish Parliament early nextyear—has disappointed PeterKearney, spokesman for theScottish bishops.

“There is something demo-cratically disingenuous in con-stantly and repeatedly returningto an issue having repeatedlyfailed to win support previ-ously,” he said. “It is fair thatthis issue is discussed and viewsexchanged and votes taken.However, once a proposal over-whelmingly fails to gather sup-port, the spirit of democracy canbe undermined by the attemptsto simply grind people and par-liament down.”

Gordon Macdonald of thecampaign group Care NotKilling, which was very activein opposing Ms MacDonald’sprevious proposals, said sheseemed incapable of ‘taking nofor an answer’ to a degree thatwas ‘almost bullying.’

“The other side refuse to acceptwhen they have been rejected,” hesaid. “They just keep... trying towear people down. I think par-liament should have to wait atleast five years before goingback to the same issue.”

He also warned that this pro-posal had a higher chance ofsuccess than her last effort.

“It is more dangerousbecause it is limited to justassisted suicide, so some peo-ple might be taken in, but weknow from last time her agendais for full euthanasia,” he said.“However, I believe a majorityof the parliament will opposethis bill as well.”

Ms MacDonald, Scotland’sonly independent MSP, claimedinterest in the issue had grownsince the death of Tony Nicklin-son in England. The 58-year-oldwith locked-in syndrome losthis ‘right to die’ High Courtcase the week before his death.

“MSPs have a better aware-ness of the issue,” she said, “Ifound more MSPs than lasttime considering giving supportto my bill.”

Under her plan, Scotlandwould become the first part ofthe UK to change the law,which currently leaves Scotsopen to prosecution for culpa-ble homicide. The former SNPpolitician, who has Parkinson’sdisease, had her last attempt tolegalise assisted suiciderejected in December 2010.

LOCAL NEWS 5Friday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

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By Martin Dunlop

A PAISLEY priest made history ear-lier this month when he became thefirst Scot to deliver the Pregón in Boe-cillo, marking the start of traditionalfiestas in the Castilla y León region ofSpain.Fr Danny McLoughlin, parish priest at

St Fillan’s Church, Houston, was formerlya student at the Royal Scots College, Val-ladolid, Spain, and he returned to the area,and the nearby village of Boecillo, earlierthis month to begin the festival season.Until the college was transferred to

Salamanca in 1988, Scots had a strongpresence in Boecillo and students fromValladolid used to spend part of the sum-mer at the Scots College’s summerhouse,which was based in the small village.

HonourEvery year, Boecillo holds fiestas in hon-our of its patron, la Virgen de la Salve.The fiestas are formally started by thedelivery of a proclamation (pregón).Local residents, concerned by the poorcondition of the historic house, which waspreviously the property of the Scots Col-lege, wanted to draw attention to thepossible loss of their heritage and soinvited Fr McLoughlin to help highlightthe situation.The Paisley priest has kept strong links

with Spain since his period of study there

and was, therefore, delighted to accept theinvitation from the Boecillo community.“I still know a lot of the people there

and they have always said to me: ‘Weshould bring you over here for the Pregónone year,’” Fr McLoughlin explained,before adding that the opportunity to openthe fiestas was a ‘great honour and a priv-ilege.’“The Pregón was in Spanish so it was a

challenge to get it just right,” he said. “Itwas an immense honour for me but I wasvery aware that I was not there as an indi-vidual but as a representative of all theScots who over the centuries had lived fora time in Boecillo.”

Tradition“Like many of the students who studied inSpain, I developed a love for the countryand its language,” Fr McLoughlin added.

He explained that the fiestas in Boe-cillo are held in the lead up to the celebra-tions marking the birthday of Our Lady onSeptember 8.This year’s festival also marked the

200th anniversary of the Scots Collegehouse in Boecillo twice playing host to theDuke of Wellington in the course of hiscampaigns against the French.


Fr DannyMcLoughlin became the first Scot to proclaim the fiestas in Boecillo, Spain, open

Spanish honour for Paisley priest

Fr Danny McLoughlin delivers the Pregón fromthe balcony of Boecillo's town hall

By Euan McArthur

SINCE joining the Apostle-ship of the Sea back in 2006,Deacon Richard Haggartyhas never been happier.He is one of two port chap-

lains in Scotland and covers theFirth of Forth and Clyde area byvisiting as many as 750 shipseach year to offer pastoral andpractical care, along with volun-teer visitors from local parishes.Deacon Haggarty, a parish-

ioner at St John the BaptistChurch in Uddingston, covers avast area which comprises Leith,Grangemouth, Glasgow (KingGeorge VDOCK), Greenock,Hunterston and Troon. In hisAoS role he distributes HolyCommunion, leads prayer, andprovides a listening ear to theeveryday problems seafarersencounter. He takes joy in hisjob, a message he wants to con-vey to the congregation at theannual Mass for the charity at StAloysius Church in Glasgownext Thursday.“It’s a special kind of pastoral

work,” Deacon Haggarty said. “Ithink that’s the best way todescribe it. I have been with theApostleship of the Sea for oversix years now and it has undoubt-edly been one of the most fulfill-ing times in my life.To have beengiven the opportunity to share myfaith as a deacon with peoplewho both need and appreciate itis one of the most fulfillingaspects of my job.“I see at first-hand lots of dif-

ferent situations on a day-to-daybasis, which opens your eyes andif only more people would seethe same then it may help raisefurther awareness about theApostleship of the Sea (AoS).”Mr Haggarty regularly visits

the port of Hunterston.“I find that ships coming to

Hunterston are very glad to seeme,” he said. “The requirementsof the crew are mainly transporttoArgos in Irvine. I have alsomade several trips toArgos onmy own to purchase gifts for theseafarers’ families.“I am also asked by some cap-

tains to help with collecting andtransporting some fresh provi-

sions to the ships and normallythe cook comes with me.“I visit the port of Troon every

Wednesday where I open up theRNMDSF (fisherman’s mission)centre. The Filipino crew whocome into the centre are pleasedto see me and ask why I onlycome once a week, as theywould like to see me more often.“I have the opportunity to talk

and pray with the fishermen aswell as bringing prayer cards,books and clothes.“When I tell them I am able to

organise Mass or Communiontheir faces simply light up.Deacon Haggarty is grateful

for the help of his many volun-teer ship visitors and would liketo enlist even more.“No two days are the same,

which is what makes it so inter-esting,” he said. “A typical daycan start with me receivingdetails at 4.30am as to whichships are coming into a busy portsuch as Grangemouth. It’s all gogetting on and off ships. Yousoon build up relationships withseafarers whom you get to know.“I couldn’t do it without ship

volunteers who are invaluable interms of support.“You don’t have to have a sea-

faring background to become avolunteer.”Mr Haggarty will speak after

Mass next Thursday at StAloy-sius, Glasgow—where the char-ity began—of his work foranyone interested in findingout more.Apostleship of the Sea is a

Catholic charity supporting sea-farers worldwide and reliesentirely on voluntary donations.

� Stella Maris is the name bywhich many seafarers knowApostleship of the Sea. TheAnnual Stella Maris feast dayMass and reception is onThursday, September 27 at5.45pm in St Aloysius Church inGlasgow.

� For more information visithttp://www.apostleshipofthe-sea.org.uk or contact Apostle-ship of the Sea, Freepost,Admail 4234, Glasgow,G1 2ZX

AoS deacon to speak at mariners’charity Mass at Glasgow parish

Pupils mark Papal visit anniversary,launch Year of Faith at Carfin GrottoMORE than 4000 schoolchildren from acrossLanarkshire joined BishopJoseph Devine of Mother-well at Carfin Grotto tocommemorate the secondanniversary of Pope Bene-dict XVI’s visit to Scotlandand launch the Year of Faith.The region’s 11 Catholic sec-

ondary schools and 76 Catholicprimary schools were repre-sented at last Friday’s Mass,which Bishop Devine celebratedalongside diocesan clergy.Reminding those gathered of

the Holy Father’s messages toCatholics in the UK, and partic-ularly in Scotland, BishopDevine told the 4000 Catholicschool students that the 21stcentury was their century.This is the time, the bishop

said, in which the youth of theChurch ‘would live their lives

and, God willing, be blessedwith a family of their own.’The bishop prepared the

youngsters for their journey inFaith and told them that, in the21st century, ‘they would needto defend Christian family val-ues and, if necessary, challengethose in power who wouldattempt to silence the voice ofChristians and usurp their God-given right to live by theirChristian conscience.’He added, however, that this

is a time when ‘their much-loved Christian church was verymuch alive and thriving havingmore faithful adherents acrossthe world than at any time in the2000 years of its history.’Through the young Faithful

and their peers, ‘the ChristianChurch would continue to bethe conscience of our nationand the world, always ready to

bear witness to the truth andforever the shining beacon andpublic witness of the teachingsof Our Lord Jesus Christ,’ thebishop concluded.Young people processed into

last Friday’s Mass, which wascelebrated outside the grotto’sGlass Chapel, carrying banners

representing their schools.The Year of Faith, which runs

from October 2012 to November2013, was called for by PopeBenedict XVI to encourageCatholic Faithful to rediscoverthe gift of Faith and to seeknew ways of proclaiming it.

PICS:TOM EADIE

6 SCHOOLS NEWS SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

By Martin Dunlop

A GROUP of 37 pupils and eightstaff from Glasgow’s HolyroodSecondary School this summertravelled to Malawi for what wasthe school’s ‘most ambitious’ proj-ect in the African country to date.The Malawi 2012 visit was the fifth

consecutive year of the Glasgowschool’s programme, which this yearsaw staff and pupils from Holyroodinvolved in further school buildingand renovation projects.Clare Wilson, a teacher at Holy-

rood, explained that this summer’swork focused on three main areas:Zingwangwa Primary School,Catholic Institute Primary School andMatinde Primary School.“Matinde was a new venture for

us,” Ms Wilson explained. “We firstmet the pupils and staff of Matinde in2011 when we visited the school withMary’s Meals as part of their backpackdistributions programme. We wereappalled by the terrible conditions inthe school and the amount of pupilslearning under the baking hot sun, asthere were not enough classrooms.Wewere able, with the support of Lang-side Primary School and the bandSimple Minds [former pupils of theschool] in Glasgow, to build a three-classroom block.”Holyrood had already established

links with Zingwangwa school, andthis work continued during the sum-mer with the building of a furtherthree-classroom block and the refur-bishment of another block.The Glasgow group also undertook

what Ms Wilson described as an‘enormous project’ at the CatholicInstitute, painting three classroomblocks that they had built during lastyear’s visit and a further nine class-rooms. They also found time duringthe visit to refurbish the institute’sinfant block.Katie Sheridan, a Holyrood pupil,

commented that some of the teamfrom Glasgow had the ‘amazingopportunity’ to help teach pupils withspecial needs.“This was a fantastic experience that

gave us a greater understanding of thehardships they endure everyday,” Katiesaid. “We grew extremely close to theseoutstanding individuals and taught themwell-known songs that everyoneenjoyed. It was upsetting to see how dif-ficult everyday life is for them, yet theyremain the happiest of people. A manwell remembered by everyone is thepupils’ teacher John, who is by far themost inspirational and optimistic manwe have ever met.”

Overwhelming opportunityThis year’s Holyrood visit also pro-vided the opportunity for Terry Strain,who works with Glasgow charityBridging the Gap, to witness, first-hand, the benefits that money he hasbeen raising through a personal proj-ect has brought to special needs pupilsat Zingwangwa.“One pupil, Samson, had been

unable to hear or speak since a bout ofmeningitis in infancy,” Ms Wilsonsaid. “Samson’s father had explainedthat a simple hearing aid would trans-form Samson’s life. Terry raised thefunds himself to pay for a hearing aidfor Samson. A specialist fitted thehearing aid during our trip this year. Itwas overwhelming to see Samson hearfor the first time and to listen to himcopying his dad and speaking his first

few words.”During their visit, the Holyrood

staff and pupils were greatly inspiredby the work of the Lomolo Empower-ing Girls Group. The group meets reg-ularly to encourage girls to makebetter choices for themselves and togive them additional focus. Membersof the group produce craft items to selland raise funds for their work in send-ing young girls to school.The Glasgow group also met work-

ers from Thyolo Papermakers, a groupof young artisans who train others toproduce craft items. They use themoney they raise themselves to payfor their education and to providehousing for the elderly and support forHIV orphans in their communities.

Unforgettable experienceFor Sarah Gillespie, Holyrood headgirl for the year 2011/12, the Malawitrip was an ‘unforgettable experience,which will stay with me for the rest ofmy life.’“I recall the words of Blessed

Mother Teresa: ‘We can do no greatthings, only small things with greatlove,’” Sarah said.Mark Malone, last year’s head boy

at Holyrood, said that, although theproject had been demanding, it hadleft him with ‘unforgettable experi-ences and memories.’“It was both physically and emo-

tionally draining, but to see the workthat has been done by Holyrood andcharities such as Mary’s Mealsallowed me to see how what we do inScotland for Malawi can make such ahuge difference to the lives of the peo-ple there,” Mark said.

Fellow pupil Andrew Brownsummed up the Malawi project as the‘sharing of an experience with a groupof fantastic people.’“It is about creating a relationship

between Holyrood and Malawi thatcannot be faulted,” he said. “Seeingthe joy on the children’s faces whenyou arrive is priceless, and that’sbefore you have done anything!Everybody was driven by the need toimprove the situation for the sake ofthe children’s happiness. The Holy-rood Malawi project isn’t about doingcharity because it’s a good thing; theMalawi Project is about carrying outthe right thing because you want thoseinnocent children to have the bestexperience possible.”

� For further information on theLomolo Empowering Girls Group orthe Thyolo Papermakers, Clare Wil-son can be contacted by email at:[email protected]


Pupils from Holyrood Secondary travelled to theAfrican country to build schools for impoverished childrenGlasgow school helps build Malawi’s future

Pupils and staff from the Malawi 2012visit (above), who built andrenovated schools and helped pupils,including those from Zingwangwa specialneeds unit and (right), some of whom areshown paying tribute to the volunteers.Terry Strain, from Glasgow charityBridging the Gap, witnessed the benefitsof his fundraising efforts when he metpupil Samson (below, with Terry), who canhear for the first time thanks to a newhearing aid

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Their parents can’t help them.They pray for someone like you.

8 NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

By Dominic Lynch

LIVERPOOL has become the firstdiocese in the UK to commission laypeople to preside at funerals.

Archbishop Patrick Kelly has formallycommissioned 22 lay ministers to cele-brate funeral ceremonies, the first timesuch a step has been authorised by theChurch in England and Wales.

The move was announced to parish-ioners through a brochure, Planning aCatholic Funeral, which was recentlypublished by Liverpool Archdiocese,which has brought in the change to helpease pressure on priests.

The brochure described a funeral as the‘community’s main celebration and prayerfor the deceased.’

“This could be a funeral Mass but... itmay be a funeral service led by a layfuneral minister or a deacon,” it said.

Support from priestsLiverpool Archdiocese’s Council ofPriests supported the move after Arch-bishop Kelly consulted with its membersand examined the 1990 Order of ChristianFunerals.

The document calls for the lay ministersto preside at funerals when clergy areunavailable, Archbishop Kelly explainedearlier this month.

The document, he said, also recom-mends that a Mass ‘be celebrated for thedeceased at the earliest convenient time.’

“In some of our parishes in the diocesepriests are being asked to celebrate over120 funerals each year,” Archbishop Kellysaid. “That does not neatly work out at

two or three times a week. Some weeksthere can be six or seven.”

TrainingArchbishop Kelly said that the lay minis-ters—some of whom are drawn from theroster of Eucharistic ministers, catechistsand religious sisters—would receive con-

tinuing support and training to ensure thatthe service they provide is ‘of the bestquality’ and was not seen by Catholics as‘second-class.’

Vocations in Liverpool have declinedsharply in recent years, and the archdio-cese has projected that the number ofpriests will decline from 170 to 100 by2015. Lay ministers already preside atfunerals in some parts of the world whereno priest or deacon is available, but themove by Liverpool is the first such case ina UK diocese.

Liverpool becomes the first diocese in the UK to authorise the involvement of the laity

Lay people to preside at funerals

Liverpool has become the first diocese in theUK to commission lay people to preside atfunerals in order to ease the pressure onits priests

SEVERAL Christian leadersare being held in protectivecustody in Niger afterdemonstrators angry at ananti-Islamic film ransackeda major Catholic church.

Hundreds of protesters(above) stormed the cathedralin Niger’s second city of Zinderafter Friday prayers, and setfire to US and British flags, alocal priest and journalist saidat the weekend.

The Islamic Council of Niger,the highest religious body in themainly Muslim country, con-demned the US-made film thathas triggered protests across theArab and Muslim world, butalso appealed for churches tobe spared.

One policeman was woundedin clashes that erupted during theprotests in Zinder, which liesnear the border with Nigeria,and about a dozen demonstratorswere arrested, it was reported.

“After Friday prayers, hun-dreds of protesters broke downthe door of the church andtotally trashed it, before settingfire to all the documents andbreaking a statue of the VirginMary,” the journalist said.

“Several Christian leadersare being held by the police toensure their safety,” he said,adding that security forces havebeen deployed to prevent fur-ther attacks against churches.

The US-made low-budgetfilm Innocence of Muslims,deemed offensive to Islam, hastriggered a wave of sometimesdeadly protests since last week.

The Islamic Council con-demned the film as a ‘historicalcrime by the enemies of Islam’but also denounced attacksagainst Western embassies inseveral Arab countries andcalled for Niger’s Muslims torefrain from attacks againstchurches.

Christians in protective custody asanger over anti-Islamic film grows

POPE Benedict XVI will bejoined at the 50th anniver-sary of the opening of theSecond Vatican Council bythe Orthodox EcumenicalPatriarch of Constantinopleand the Anglican Arch-bishop of Canterbury.

Vatican officials have con-firmed that the Anglican Arch-bishop Rowan Williams andPatriarch Bartholomew of Con-stantinople will attend a Masscelebrated by Pope Benedict onOctober 11.

Representatives from theOrthodox Church and Anglican

Communion were observers atthe 1962-65 council, that offi-cially embraced and promotedCatholic involvement in theecumenical movement.

During the January celebra-tion of the Week of Prayer forChristian Unity, Pope Benedictsaid the Second Vatican Coun-cil placed the search for Chris-tian unity ‘at the centre of thelife and work of the Church,’because it was Christ’s desirethat His followers be united.

“The lack of unity amongChristians impedes a moreeffective proclamation of Christ

because it puts our credibilityin danger,” the Holy Fatheradded. “How can we give aconvincing witness if weare divided?”

Ecumenical cooperation inproclaiming the Christian mes-sage is expected to be a keytopic at the world Synod ofBishops on New Evangelisa-tion from October 7-28.

The Mass at the Vatican onOctober 11 will also mark thebeginning of the Year of Faith,which will be observed byCatholic Faithful throughoutthe world.

KENYAN POLICE FOIL SUICIDEBOMB PLOT ON CHURCHESKENYAN police have announcedthat they have foiled a suicide-bombing plot against churchesin Nairobi, the nation’s capital.

“These suspects wanted to usethese arms to harm innocentKenyans during Sunday churchservices,” a policeman told aFrench news agency.

The two suspects in the caseare Somalis who have becomeKenyan citizens.

SPANISH COUNCIL LEADERS MAYEND CHURCH TAX BREAKSCOUNCIL officials in Spain areconsidering ending tax breaksenjoyed by the Catholic Churchas a source of raising income.

InAlcala, public official RicardoRubio is leading an effort to imposea tax on all Church property used

for non-religious purposes.As one of Spain’s largest

landowners—with holdings thatinclude schools, homes, parks,sports fields and restaurants—theChurch could owe up to €3 billion(£2.4 billion) in taxes each year.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Mari-ano Rajoy, has, however, calledproposals to impose such prop-erty taxes ‘irresponsible.’ TheChurch, he said, deserves theexemptions because it serves a‘very important social function.’

SPUC CRITICISES LAUNCH OFCONSULTATION AS A ‘SHAM’CATHOLIC charity SPUC hascriticised the launch of a consul-tation on mitochondrial transferas a sham, arguing that these tech-niques mean the production ofgenetically manipulated babies,who will in some cases be clonesof earlier IVF embryos.

“Over the past 20 years, propo-nents of human embryo experi-

mentation have repeatedlyclaimed that such research offeredthe promise—and perhaps theonly hope—of finding treatmentsfor serious diseases,” AnthonyMcCarthy, SPUC’s education andpublications manager, said “Thepublic has been repeatedly misled.

“There are profound moralobjections to the exploitation ofhuman embryos—each one amember of the human family,used as a laboratory animal andthen unceremoniously discarded.Yet the Human Fertilisation andEmbryology Authority (HFEA)has sanctioned the exploitationof millions of the tiniest humans,to no discernible benefit.

“The original assurances thatIVF would not lead to cloning orgenetic engineering of embryosare now being set aside, as theHFEA launches another consul-tation apparently designed toconvince the public that suchmanipulations are benign.”

Anglican archbishop to join Pope at anniversary

NEWS IN BRIEF

VATICAN NEWS 9Friday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

By Stephen Reilly

POPE Benedict XVI closed hisvisit to Lebanon last Sunday withan appeal for peace in the MiddleEast, decrying the violence ‘whichgenerates so much suffering.’“Why so much horror? Why so

many dead?” the Holy Father askedthe congregation in Beirut—estimatedto have topped 350,000—at the clos-ing open air Mass of his visit. Helamented that ‘the first victims arewomen and children.’With pilgrims from across the Mid-

dle East at the Mass, Pope Benedictsaid Christians must do their part toend the ‘grim trail of death anddestruction’ in the region but also thattheir faith must be respected.“I appeal to you all to be peacemak-

ers,” the Holy Father said, speakingfrom an altar built on land reclaimedwith debris from Lebanon’s 15-yearcivil war. He pressed ahead with hiscall for peace and reconciliationbetween Christians and Muslims.

Peace and freedomPope Benedict emphasised this mes-sage of peace and religious tolerancethat throughout his three-day visit. Hearrived in the country on Friday andthe Pope warned that Christians in theregion must be respected when hesigned a major document calling onCatholics in the Middle East to engagein dialogue with Orthodox, Jewish andMuslim neighbours, but also affirmingand defending their right to live freely

in the region of Christ’s birthIn a ceremony at the Melkite

Catholic Basilica of St Paul in Harissa,Pope Benedict signed the 90-pagedocument of his reflections on the2010 special Synod of Bishops, whichwas dedicated to Christians in theMiddle East before formally present-ing the document at Sunday’s outdoorMass in Beirut (above).A section of the document dedicated

to interreligious dialogue encouragedChristians to ‘esteem’ the region’sdominant religion, Islam, lamentingthat ‘both sides have used doctrinaldifferences as a pretext for justifying,

in the name of religion, acts of intol-erance, discrimination, marginalisa-tion and even of persecution.’Yet in a reflection of the precarious

position of Christians in most of theregion today, where they frequentlyexperience negative legal and socialdiscrimination, the Pope called forArab societies to ‘move beyond toler-ance to religious freedom.’In his speech at the document’s

signing, Pope Benedict urged Chris-tians in the Middle East to ‘act con-cretely... in a way like that of theEmperor Constantine, who could bearwitness and bring Christians forth

from discrimination to enable themopenly and freely to live their Faith inChrist Crucified, dead and risen forthe salvation of all.’The Pope signed the document in

an atmosphere of inter-religious har-mony, with Orthodox, Muslim andDruze leaders in attendance at thebasilica.On Saturday, he told a multi-faith

gathering of Lebanon’s political, reli-gious and cultural leaders at the pres-idential palace in Baabda that peacewill not come to the Middle East untilits nations enjoy religious freedom,since only the free practice of faith can

inspire the region’s diverse peoples tounite around basic human values.

Pilgrim of peaceUpon his arrival in Lebanon, the HolyFather set the tone for his visit sayingthat he came ‘as a pilgrim of peace, asa friend of God and as a friend of men.’In his remarks at a welcoming cere-

mony at Beirut’s airport, Pope Bene-dict praised Lebanon, with a mixedpopulation of Christians and Muslims,for its distinctive record of ‘coexis-tence and respectful dialogue.’But speaking in a country that was

devastated by a civil war from 1975 to1990, the Holy Father acknowledgedthat Lebanese society’s ‘equilibrium,which is presented everywhere as anexample, is extremely delicate.’“Sometimes it seems about to snap

like a bow which is overstretched orsubmitted to pressures,” he said,stressing that it ‘should be sought withinsistence, preserved at all costs andconsolidated with determination.’”The visit was a success that will

meet the Pope’s aims of promotingpeace in the region according to Patri-arch Bechara al-Rai, head of theMaronite Catholic Church,“Your visit is a safety valve at a

time when Christians feel the instabil-ity and are faithfully resisting to con-firm they are deep-rooted in this landdespite the major challenges,” he toldthe Pope on Sunday at the open airMass. “We pray with Your Holinessthat these bloody events and sacrificesgive birth to Spring.”

Pope Benedict XVI closes his visit to Lebanon by appealing for an end to the suffering that the conflict has brought to the regionHoly Father renews call for peace in the Middle East

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THE Pope’s former butler andaVatican computer technicianwill go on trial next week oncharges of leaking privatedocuments belonging to theHoly Father.Butler Paolo Gabriele (right),

who will face a Vatican court onSeptember 29, has told investiga-tors he was acting as an agent forthe Holy Spirit to rid the CatholicChurch of ‘evil and corruption.’He is accused of aggravated

theft, which carries a sentence ofup to six years in prison. MrGabriele will stand trial togetherwith Claudio Sciarpelletti who,according to court papers, played

a secondary messenger role.Mr Gabriele is accused of

passing confidential documentsfrom Vatican offices includingthose of the Pope’s personal sec-retary to investigative journalistGianluigi Nuzzi, who publishedthem in a book called His Holi-ness earlier this year. The 46-year-old father-of-three wasarrested on May 23 after police

found confidential papers andcopying equipment in his homeinside the Vatican.He was held for 53 days in a

Vatican security room as theHoly See has no jail. He has sincebeen living under house arrest.Both men will face a panel ofthreeVatican judges, all of whomare laymen and professors at Ital-ian universities. Vatican law, likeItalian law, does not foresee theuse of juries in criminal trials.Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vat-

ican spokesman, said a small poolof reporters will be able attend theproceedings, but television cam-eras will not be allowed access.

A VATICAN spokesmanhas decried violence in thename of religion, as well as‘provocations’ against reli-gion, in the wake of riotsacross the Muslim worldover a film that depictsthe Prophet Mohammednegatively.Fr Federico Lombardi, the

Holy See’s Press Office direc-tor, made the remarks in thestatement in response to theviolent attacks on the US Con-sulate in the Libyan city ofBenghazi that killed US ambas-sador Chris Stevens and threeother diplomats. Violence hassince spread to many otherMuslim countries, with protestsacross Asia and North Africa.Fr Lombardi condemned acts

that caused ‘unjustified offenceand provocations’ against Mus-

lim sensibilities and led to‘serious consequences’ includ-ing ‘unacceptable violence.’The statement did not

directly mention the American-made, anti-Islam film posted onYouTube that allegedly sparkedthe violence. The film’s produc-ers have since been reported tobe right-wing Christians in theUS, including members of theCoptic community. Fr Lom-bardi’s statement made clearthat violence was never anacceptable response.“Profound respect for the

beliefs, texts, outstanding fig-ures and symbols of the variousreligions is an essential precon-dition for the peaceful coexis-tence of peoples,” he said. “Theserious consequences of unjus-tified offence and provocationsagainst the sensibilities of Mus-

lim believers are once againevident in these days, as we seethe reactions they arouse,sometimes with tragic results,which in their turn nourish ten-sion and hatred, unleashingunacceptable violence.”Fr Lombardi’s words also

echoed the Pope’s message onthe need for dialogue and co-operation that he gave on histrip to Lebanon last weekend.“The message of dialogue

and respect for all believers ofdifferent religions, which theHoly Father is preparing tocarry with him on his forth-coming trip to Lebanon, indi-cate the path that everyoneshould follow in order to con-struct shared and peacefulcoexistence among religionsand peoples,” he said ahead ofthe visit.

Vatican decries violence in the name of religion

Trial of Papal butler due to begin next week

10 COMMENT SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

WHEN I was young Iwas always told thatbeing a Catholic in agodless world wouldnever be mistaken

for a bowl of cherries. There were,though, compensations for keeping theFaith while everyone else was carous-ing and indulging in malarkey andtomfoolery. Chief among these wasthe certain knowledge that, while yourgodless chums were all going to Hell,there was a place in Heaven reservedfor you. All you had to do was attendMass regularly; avoid murdering peo-ple; help the sick; visit prisoners; givealms to the poor and avoid concupis-cence with other people’s wives. I justassumed that everyone—regardless ofgender or persuasion—would beexpected to achieve the same state ofgrace before entry to the Kingdom ofHeaven could be assured.But being middle-aged and a bloke

and still Catholic in an evenmore secu-lar world is not exactly a ride on thedodgems either.My endearingly unbur-dened atheist chums need only concernthemselves with their mere mortality.All that seems to exercise them is atwhat point does a lifetime of bad habits

finally catch up with them and whetheror not they will be the ones looking fora chair the next time the music stops.Being Catholic, however, we are notsupposed to worry too much aboutthese things because a better life awaitsus with our Saviour for eternity. Indeed,if you worry too much about them that,in itself, could be deemed a sin becauseto fret about earthly things is to denyGod’s plan for your life.But we do fret about these things and

wewonder if it is just far too late to startthinking about porridge and banana forbreakfast and making the large meas-ures small once more. And, beingCatholic, we also start worrying aboutideas of immortality. When a chap isapproaching 50 it is not unreasonablethat he starts to wonder if Hell doesexist and what must it feel like. Is itreally for eternity? Is it simply theabsence of God?After all, if an individ-ual has lived without God for most ofhis life then the absence of Godwill notupset him too much. But a lifetimebeing roasted while your intestines arebeing gnawed by creatures with twoheads and a dog’s body does begin tofocus the mind more than somewhat.

While Hell is beyond disputeand is a spiritual reality, thetop three Catholic shibboleths

that raise doubts are: the existence ofHell; the need to go to Confession allthat often (if ever) and artificial contra-ception—and not all necessarily in thatorder. Perhaps I have been overlyexposed to the Catholic part-timebrigade, but it is rare that you findmany,even in our own Church, who surviveto deep middle age with their belief inall three of the above unquestioned.Somewhere in our journey through

post-Christian and secular Scotland ascepticism about the concept of Hellbegins to take root. How could a loving

God sendHis own children to such a ter-rible charnel house? And for eternity?Isn’t it a bit disproportionate? One shortlifetime of inconstancy begets an eter-nity of woe? That is not very just andcompassionate. If you profess to be aCatholic and a churchgoer these dayspeople simply look at you with thatquizzical gawk on their faces and think

that you are just trying to be differentand thrawn. But if you state a belief inHell, well then obviously they wouldsay you are a complete nutter.As for the Sacrament of Reconcili-

ation, well if you are still calling itConfession, then obviously you areone of the 95 per cent who has notbeen going regularly or have not been

for some time, like me. For, it seemsthat we have all ‘become Protestants’when it comes to this Sacrament, mak-ing the excuse ‘as long as God knowsthat you’re sorry for what you did thenit doesn’t really matter about goingthrough the formalities.’ Once upon atime, my old primary school teacherMrs McCafferty, would have calledthat ‘a firm purpose of amendment.’

And as for artificial contracep-tion, well you must forgive meif I do not analyse current

Catholic attitudes to that one toomuch. I am in enough trouble as it isfor defending my gay friends andchoosing George Galloway as one ofmy top 20 ‘Tims.’ The fact remains,however, that Catholics have stoppedhaving double-digit families.Every day in the secular media and

in the temples of secularism, thou-sands of the 21st century’s ‘highpriests and prophets’ will tell us howwe can delay the onset of old age andinfirmity. But none of them will dealwith immortality and how to get thebest out of it.As I am a cheery type and if it is all

the same with you, I will start contem-plating the nature of Hell once more.And, alongwithmy five a week andmymonthly visit to the gym, I shall look upthe Confession times at the chapel onceagain. Because, as Mrs McCaffery alsoreminded us more than just the once:death comes like a thief in the night…

� Kevin McKenna is former deputyeditor of the Herald and formerexecutive editor of the Daily Mail inScotland. He is currently a columnistfor the Guardian

What do you think of KEVIN McKENNA’S comments on Hell and immortality? Send your points of view to the SCO

Write to Letters, SCO, 19Waterloo St, Glasgow G2 6BT Or e-mail [email protected]

While often mentioned, Heaven and Hell are not always contemplated in depth as much as they should be

Contemplating the spiritual afterlife

SOMETHINGS exist only infiction. The Daleks fromDoctor Who spring to mind.From their earliest appear-ance, with their high pitched,quavering voices and theirdemented yet sinister, saltcellar appearance, their call to‘exterminate’ still carriesmenace. That they have sur-vived various incarnations ofthe doctor is testament, notjust to their menace, but alsotheir durability. It also speaksvolumes about their desire toconquer this and any otherplanet that they happen upon.My first and most enduring

memory of the extraordinarily tal-ented actor, Gene Hackman, wasin his portrayal of Popeye Doyle,the hard bitten detective in TheFrench Connection. He hasplayed numerous roles since then.As the villain Lex Luthor, in oneof the Superman movies, heexcels. He brings a degree ofpanache and not a little humour tothe portrayal of the megalomaniacwho wants to rule Superman’s

world. In the world of fiction it iseasy to do this. In the good versusevil conflict, world dominationversus the rights of the ordinaryindividual, Superman will alwaysfly in and save the situation. Wewill all rest easier, giving a sigh ofrelief that the superhero has tri-umphed yet again.In real life this is not so easy.

Superman and Spiderman and therest are works of fiction. Reality isoften tragically different. Humanhistory from the earliest times islittered with stories of the abuseof power. Empires have come andgone, dominating human historyfor a short time and then fadinginto memory or oblivion. If thenameAdolf Hitler has becomesynonymous with evil and theabuse of power, it was not alwaysso. Hitler was initially welcomed,

if not universally by the Germanpeople, he was welcomed at leastsubstantially, as the person to savethe nation. He was offered power.He then manipulated this powerfor his own ends, bringing aboutthe devastation that became theSecondWorld War. His attempt toannihilate the Jewish people wasthe ultimate distortion and abuseof power. As someone said:“Power corrupts. Absolute powercorrupts absolutely.’If Hitler and the Axis powers

were adversaries during the Sec-ond World War, there was anuneasy and often fraught relation-ship, among the leadership of theAllies. Internally, in the Alliedleadership, there was a powerstruggle taking place, a strugglebetween conflicting ideologies, astruggle for territory and aboveall a struggle for power. On theone hand we have the US andGreat Britain promoting democ-racy and on the other Josef Stalin,promoting Communism.Josef Stalin, leader of the

Soviet Union, is noted among the

great dictators of modern history.He was one of our allies. Thereare those who would say that theexcesses of Stalin are on a scalesimilar to that of Hitler. What-ever the truth or otherwise ofthis, in the person of Josef Stalinand his administration, we arestill faced with abuse of poweron a terrifying scale. The ColdWar—the long running stand offbetween former allies—in thewake of the Second World War,seems to confirm that the questfor ultimate power is still aliveand well. In the more than 60years since the end of the lastglobal conflict, there is ampleevidence of this.When we read the Gospel this

weekend it should ring alarmbells in our heads. “What wereyou discussing?” Jesus asks ofHis friends. I am sure there wasan embarrassed silence beforethey made their response. “Wewere discussing which of us wasthe most important?” they said.Even in the best of circles, itwould appear that the question of

power raises its ugly head. Whyshould we not be surprised? Thefriends of Jesus were made of thesame stuff as you and me. All ofus can be seduced our own littlemoment of power. It may not bethe quest for power that leads toglobal conflict but in all of us thequest for power can be insidious.The single greatest difficulty

that the Church has had to dealwith in recent years has beenchild abuse. At its very root, theabuse of children is a fundamen-tal abuse of power. Those givenpositions of power have used thispower to exploit children sexu-ally. The sense of shock and ofshame that has permeated theChurch is still palpable. We haveheard the Gospel. We know andunderstand the message of Jesus.We know that in responding toHis disciples, Jesus challengestheir lack of awareness of the rad-ical nature of his message. Today,Jesus is challenging us to thinkabout this message. Jesus chal-lenges us to think about our ownpotential for becoming power

hungry and its potential conse-quences for our discipleship.The message of Jesus has noth-

ing to offer those who seek powerin worldly terms. In our ownlives, all of us exercise power, atone level or another. Parents overchildren. Parish priests overparish communities. Managementover workers. Teachers overpupils. The list is almost endless.We may not even recognise thatwe have positions of power.Today’s Gospel is a wake up callfor all of us. The Gospel seeks toenable and encourage us toachieve our potential but never atthe cost of another person. Disci-pleship requires co-operation, notdomination. Pointing the finger ofaccusation is always easy. Look-ing in a mirror might reveal char-acteristics we would rather notsee. Am a true disciple? Am Isomeone distorted, even a little,by a quest for self aggrandise-ment? This question is not goingaway any time soon.


Co-operation, not domination, is the key to true discipleship

Fr EddieMcGhee

BY KEVINMcKENNA

As we get older, it is natural to begincontemplating, in a more profoundmanner, the nature of Heaven and Hell

COMMENT 11SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERFriday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

THERE is a strong core of pro-lifeactivists that exist in Scotland andthey do great work raising awarenessof the issues, campaigning, and giv-ing support to those in crisis. But

every so often an event comes along that requiresmore than just the same active core that engagesin the standard pro-life activities that take placeyear after year. An event that requires peoplewho normally leave the pro-life activity to thedie-hard supporters, to get involved and supportthe movement in a time of desperate need.That time is just about upon us in Scotland as

the International Federation of ProfessionalAbortion and Contraception Associates (FIA-PAC) prepares to host their biannual conferencein Edinburgh on October 19-20, 2012. EntitledUnwanted Pregnancy: A Fact of Life, the eventwill examine every aspect of abortion that youcould imagine, including abortion provision invarious parts of the world where it is still illegalor difficult to obtain an abortion.While this event is taking place there will be a

pro-life response.A response that is compassion-ate with regard to those people whose lives havebeen touched or damaged by abortion, and under-standing of those who think the best solution to acrisis pregnancy is to eliminate the child.EntitledAbortion Damage: A Fact of Life, the

focus of the pro-life events taking place in Edin-burgh on October 19-20 are the women and menwho will be speaking out about their own abor-tion experiences and the multitude of physicaland mental problems this led to as they struggledin the aftermath of their experience.Declaring to be Silent No More, these brave

voices will speak out to the public to show thatabortion usually causes more problems that itever solves, and that asking a parent to choose toend the life of their own child is something thatis naturally very difficult to cope with, regard-less of circumstances.It is a voice we seldom get to hear in our own

society where abortion has to be accepted and tospeak against it means one is invariably labelled asan extremist or a religious nutcase. That, of course,is simply not the case. It is pro-life supporters whoare the ones providing crisis pregnancy care andsupport to women, offering them a real choice byhelping them have their children as well as addressthe problems in their lives that made the preg-nancy a ‘crisis’ situation in the first place.It is pro-lifers who are operating the post-abor-

tion help lines and counselling centres, not tojudge women who have had abortions, but to

offer understanding and allow them the chanceto say what they are ordinarily not allowed to sayanywhere else, or to anyone else: “I regret myabortion.”

SPUC Scotland is helping co-ordinate aproper response to the FIAPAC conferenceand is seeking the support and help of that

vast majority of people out there and readers of theSCO who agree with the pro-life position but sel-dom take part in pro-life activity and are not mem-bers of any local pro-life groups. For this event weneed your presence to help show the world thatScotland and Scottish society is not keen to bean abortion focus for the world, in any way.Firstly, we would ask you to write to your

MSPs and ask them to inform the Scottish Gov-ernment of your disapproval of this event. Wewould ask you to mention the fact that FIAPAC

has a resolution to oppose to conscientiousobjection to abortion for medics. Given that aScottish Government representative is going tobe present to welcome the delegates at the con-ference, this is a highly prejudicial move whentwo Glasgow midwives are currently awaitingappeal for their judicial review case for theirright to conscientious objection to abortion in theScottish courts at present.Does this not present a very serious dilemma

for our government in Scotland? Moreover thesame can be said for the success we have seen inScotland over the last three years where the offi-cial abortion rates have continued to decline. Isthe Scottish Government serious about wantingabortion rates to remain low, because this con-ference would aim to have the opposite effect,not only here but elsewhere.Second, we woud ask you to join us at some

point over the afternoon of the October 19 or Sat-urday October 20 to show your solidarity withthe pro-life movement in some way.There will be a pro-life chain presence for

those who can make it on the Friday afternoonin Morrison Street, Edinburgh, near to the con-ference venue.On the Saturday we will be based on Lothian

Road for the Silent No More event and for vari-ous silent pro-life chains as well as the launch ofpro-life balloons into the air to mark the end ofour day of pro-life witness.

DONNA NICHOLSON

� If you would like to help with, or attend, theevent, or to find out more information pleasecontact the event coordinator Rachel Kidd on0141 221 2094 or email: [email protected]. We hope to see you there.

� If you know anyone who is suffering in theaftermath of an abortion experience and needshelp please call Abortion Recovery Care andHelpline (ARCH) free on: 0845 603 8501

� www.spucscotland.org

SPUC Scotland is hoping that its supporters will comeout and show that life counts in the wake of an eventbeing hosted by the International Federation ofProfessional Abortion and Contraception Associates

This month, SPUC SCOTLAND outlines its response to an upcoming event entitled Unwanted Pregnancy: A Fact of Life

Stand up and speak out against abortion

SPUC SCOTLAND COLUMN

By Patricia Carroll

CARDINAL Fernando Filoni is cur-rent Prefect of the Congregation forthe Evangelisation of Peoples. He wasApostolic nuncio and defended thefreedom of the Catholic Church inIraq under the regime of Saddam Hus-sein and—in line with the Pope’s posi-tion— opposed the US invasion of thecountry. He remained in Baghdad asAmerican bombs fell, the only ambas-sador to do so. He came close to beingkilled in Baghdad on February 1,2006, when a car bomb exploded nextto the nunciature. His response was:“Thank God we survived!”At the the SecondVatican Council Con-

ference in Leeds he spoke about the rela-tionship between faith and culture askingthe key question: How does faith becomeculture? He began by speaking about theLatin American bishops at Mendellin whocalled for a New Evangelisation as far backas 1973, and even at that time this need forNew Evangelisation was being linked tosecularisation. In 1978 Cardinal StephanWyszynski was also calling for a strongercommitment on the part of the Church tothe rechristianisation of Europe. In 1979Pope John Paul II spoke of how the Churchmust always evangelise Herself, followingPope Paul VI who said in Evangelli Nun-tiandi that only an evangelical Church canbe evangelising. Then in 1983 Pope John

Paul II called for a more focused approachwhere he asked the bishops to: “Look to thefuture with commitment to a New Evan-gelisation, one that is new in its ardour,new in its methods, and new in its meansof expression.” (Pope John Paul II toBishops of Latin America, Haiti, 1983)This was a clarion call to stop doing

business as usual and to find new ways ofnot only expressing the Gospel for ourtime but presenting the Gospel to thosewho have already heard of Christ. Forthose bishops conferences who did takeup this call patterns began to emergewhich were signs of the tiredness andjadedness of life in the Church, such as:

� Privatisation as a key problem—manyCatholics in the west considered thattheir religion was a private affair betweenthem and God.� A need to know a different Catholi-cism from childhood—other Catholicsspoke about being Cradle Catholicswhose religious instruction ended atseven years of age.� Focus on an encounter with a person,the person of Christ—lots of WesternCatholics talked about diffidence andshyness in speaking about prayer andtheir relationship with Jesus.� Integration of the intellectual aspectsof belief with real life—a large group ofCatholics brought up in the 1970s sharedhow they felt experiments were being

done on them and that they did not actu-ally know what they believe.� The development of new methods—the internet has become an interfacebetween the Church and the world, manyparishes and Churches pretended thisrevolution has not taken place.� Emphasising the irreplaceable role ofthe personal witness of Christians.� Learning from young Churches andtheir ability to adjust to the conditions inwhich they live.� Openness to young Churches evange-lising the Western Churches which areweakened.

Cardinal Filoni went on to exploreemerging patterns in the young Churcheswhich are sources of new life, saying thatin these Churches there is a joyful Faithcontrasting with the tired Faith of thewest. Perhaps it is time to examine whatthe west is lacking. Life giving patternswhich are emerging from these places are:

� Connecting to the depths of spiritualwisdom which we find in the east.� Making the Gospel understandable andaccessible.� Engaging in a profound dialogue withthe world without fear.� Spiritual renewal accompanying newgrowth.� Emphasising the centrality of the Cate-chumenate.

� Developing the role of the Catechist.

In the past when these young Churcheswere considered as mission territory mis-sionaries first had to learn the languageand the culture of the place before shar-ing the Good News. Often this meantyears of patiently waiting for this to bearfruit and that missionaries themselveslearned new ways of being Church.Cardinal Filoni said that in our

changed reality in the west we actuallyhave to take time to ‘learn the culture andthe language’ of our society so that wecan awaken a New Evangelisation. Weneed to call each other to become part-ners in mission, and walk out beyond thegate of the parish Church into a worldyearning for the presence of Christ.It is interesting to that in the Prepara-

tion Document for the Synod on the NewEvangelisation the role of the Catechist isemphasised as crucial. Some people think‘teacher’ when they heard this word, it istrue some teachers do Catechise but notall teachers are Catechists. A Catechist issomeone who skilled at sharing Faith. Wehave the challenge here in Scotland ofpromoting this ministry which mayalready compliment the evangelisationwork which goes on.Here are some questions for you to

ponder this week:

� What impact has the life of younger

Churches had in your own parish setting?� How do you focus on encounter withChrist in your life?� Is your parish open to the world orafraid of the world?� Where are there regular opportunitiesfor spiritual growth in your parish?� How important is the Catechumenatein your parish or deanery?� How is the ministry of Catechistdeveloped and valued in your parish?

All searching questions, which wehave got to be prepared to ask ourselvesand answer honestly. Sometimes congrat-ulating ourselves has got in the way ofhumbly acknowledging that we needmake a fresh response to the times we arein. This Year of Faith might well be anopportunity to celebrate the faith wehave, but more importantly it is theopportune moment to examine how weare sharing our Faith, what has hinderedus from doing this and how open wereally are to what is new. Otherwise ourparish communities are in danger ofbecoming small groups who are lookingin on themselves, worried about leaks inthe roof, bemoaning the fall in numbersand other such things, while people areactually drowning outside.

� Patricia Carroll is the Episcopal Delegatefor Pastoral Resources in St Andrews andEdinburgh

An opportune time to examine how we, as Catholics, share our Faith

LEBANON 13Friday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER12 LEBANON SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

EVERY evening and at weekends, the mainhighway between Beirut and Jounieh, thelargest Christian city in Lebanon, is jam-packed. An endless queue of cars crawls instop-start fashion along the coast road link-

ing the two cities. Not until you get north of Jounieh, inthe direction of Byblos, or south of Beirut in the direc-tion of Tyre and Sidon, does the queue of crawling traf-fic begin to thin out. Tourists are also to be found inthese cities, that were famous even in antiquity. Espe-cially in Byblos, around the ancient Crusader fortressesand the harbour, there is a lively bustle. The restaurantsare well attended—the Lebanese middle-classes live lifehere in some style.But things are not all they seem; behind the facade the

economy is no longer in such good shape. You can see italready in the queues of cars—luxury vehicles side byside with ancient diesel taxicabs. Many new buildingshave not yet had windows put in or their rendering fin-ished; yet they are inhabited nonetheless. In Beirut itself,between two prosperous residential areas with theirsmart apartment blocks, one suddenly comes upon aslum area of dark grey tin shacks. The world economic

slump has hit Lebanon too. Investments have fallen by afifth for well over a year now, the national debt is risingand currently stands at around US$60 billion, or 130 percent of GNP. More than a quarter of the population isliving below the poverty threshold—of four dollars perhead per day—while trade with Syria has suffered amarked collapse due to the fighting. Meanwhile, moreand more refugees are flooding in from this neighbour-ing country. Their numbers, like all the population sta-tistics in Lebanon, are almost impossible to gauge, andthere has been no official attempt to count them. But thismuch is known at least: they run into the tens of thou-sands. Many find refuge with relatives and friends.There are no refugee camps. The government remainscautious and avoids any official position either for oragainst Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This couldultimately upset the fragile balance.By contrast, the press is far more free with its opin-

ions, and mocks the inactivity and impotence of the gov-ernment in the face of a series of planned outrages andabductions. It is frequently repeated that Syria wantsto internationalise the crisis and suck in Lebanon intothe maelstrom. In this respect the positions of the vari-

ous different political camps are clear. The two largestChristian parties, Kataeb and Forces Libanaises, aredemanding the rescinding of the co-operation treatywith Damascus. The tensions are highlighted in the caseof Michel Samaha, former Information Minister, whoplanned an attempt on lives of the Maronite patriarchand a popular Sunni parliamentarian—demonstrablyat the behest of Damascus—but was exposed and con-fessed. The uproar is understandable, as it was on theeve of the Papal visit. But to infer from this that anatmosphere of war pervades the country, as some cor-respondents are doing, reminds one of the times of theLebanese Civil War, when most Western correspon-dents sat in comfort in the Holiday Inn in West Beirutand reported whatever the Palestinians and Syrians,who ruled this quarter of the city, dictated to them. Theviewpoint fostered in Europe andAmerica was colouredaccordingly. Today—if they are even in Beirut at all—they probably sit in the still more splendid HotelPhoenicia and relate stories about Assad mercenariesgoing through the streets of Beirut hunting down hisopponents. Anyone who has actually travelled throughLebanon in the last few weeks can only wonder at this.

The only place where there is any shooting is in thenorth, on the frontier with Syria. Beirut itself is, asalways, excitably loud and cheerful, and instead ofhordes of armed men there are processions of hootingcars, often with married couples, parading through thestreets, while here and there bored Lebanese Army sol-diers wave the motorcades through the checkpoints.The only occasions when a degree of tension is arousedis when Hezbollah flexes its muscles from time to timeand blocks the road to the airport for a few hours—merely as a demonstration of its power. But there isabsolutely no question of any kind of wartime tension.For the time being the fuse on the powder keg that isLebanon is still long enough for it to be stamped outwhenever it starts to smoulder.

None of the principal agents—whether Shiites,Sunnis or Christians—have any interest in upset-ting the fragile political balance. All of them are

waiting to see what happens in Syria. All the way up toTripoli things are peaceful in the country, including eventhe Hezbollah territory of the Bekaa Valley, close to thefrontier with Syria. Daily, refugees arrive here from

Aleppo, Homs or Damascus—overwhelmingly fromChristian families. Melchite CatholicArchbishop IssamDarwish gave a sober assessment of their numbers.“For now there are some 500 families, or around 3000

people,” he said. “Daily their numbers increase; theyare arriving in dozens. With whatever resourcesremaining to them they rent a small apartment, or elsethey seek shelter with relatives and friends, at least forthe next few months. There is plenty of help for therefugees in Turkey, but here? There will not be any tentsor camps; the experiences with the Palestinians havehad too lasting an effect. The pontifical charity Aid tothe Church in Need is the only one to have offered help.Otherwise we are on our own with our need.”The country will undoubtedly need help. Estimates of

the number of these ‘invisible refugees’—in the BekaaValley, in Beirut and in the Christian areas generally—put them at a total of 30,000. But those suffering mostof all are the Iraqi Christians, who continue to be drivenout of their country and come seeking refuge inLebanon. Now, because of the refugees from Syria, theUN has simply halved its aid to them. Yet they have norelatives or friends to turn to but are dependent on out-

side help. “The refugee problem is the biggest challengefor the country today,”Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, theApostolic nuncio said. The media scarcely ever reporton this, however.

As to the Papal visit, Archbishop Caccia’s state-ment was always confident that it would takeplace. Prior to the visit, Béchara Boutros Raï, the

Patriarch of the Maronites, the largest Christian com-munity in Lebanon, also said: “We await his visit withgreat joy.”Indeed, the 75 bishops of the 12 different Christian

confessions welcomed the visit, and theMuslim commu-nities of Shia and Sunnis likewise awaited the Pope, astheApostolic nuncio himself said, the Pope is ‘a spiritualleader with a worldwide outreach and audience.’ Thisfact, he explained, is an expression of the special char-acter of Lebanon, in contrast to all the other countries ofthe Middle East. For ‘Lebanon is neither a theocraticnor a secular country. It is a civil society made up ofminorities, in which freedom of conscience transcendsthe confessional boundaries. Hence what we have here isa system of consensual government that is quite unique.’

Neither the Christians, nor the Shiites, nor the Sunnisconstitute a majority. In the constitution the propor-tional system gives consideration to the minorities. Thusthe President is a Maronite, the Prime Minister is aSunni, the Parliamentary Speaker is a Shiite. If any pop-ulation group were to become a majority, then the care-fully worked-out balance would be upset. This is likewisethought to be one of the reasons why for over half a cen-tury there has been no census of the population.However, since the voters have to register, the electoral

lists give some idea of the relative numbers.According tothese, the Christians represent about 35 per cent, theSunnis 25 per cent and the Shiites 37 per cent of theoverall population. Added to these are the Druze, ataround two per cent. These figures oblige one to find aconsensus. The alternative is war—and for the momentno one has any interest in this. All the more reason foreveryone to emphasise the message that Lebanon canoffer the region and the world—a country where peoplecan live together in peace, despite their religious, culturaland ethnic differences—thanks to freedom of conscience.

�� www.acnuk.org

LEBANON SEES PROFIT IN PEACEJÜRGEN LIMINSKI from the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need explains why Pope Benedict XVI’s visit was so important to Lebanon, a country that has finally embraced peace

(Above right) Pope Benedict XVI meets Lebanese religiousleaders at Baabda Palace outside Beirut. The Pope urged multifaith Lebanon to be a model of peace and religious coexistence in the Middle East. (Right) The Pope signs hisApostolic exhortation on the Church’s concerns in the MiddleEast during his visit to St Paul’s Basilica in Harissa. (Far right)The Holy Father greets the crowd as he arrives to celebrate the outdoor Mass on the waterfront in Beirut

(Above left) Youths carry alarge cross during a meetingwith Pope Benedict XVI inBkerke. (Left) Young peoplehold up a sign that reads, ‘Welove Jesus’ as they gather foran outdoor Mass with PopeBenedict XVI on the waterfrontin Beirut

MAINSWITCHBOARDTel: 0141 221 4956• Fax: 0141 221 4546

EDITORLiz Leydon—Tel: 0141 241 6109

[email protected]

DEPUTYEDITORIan Dunn—Tel: 0141 241 6107

[email protected]

REPORTERMartin Dunlop—Tel: 0141 241 6103

[email protected]

SUB-EDITORGerard Gough—Tel: 0141 241 6115

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14 LETTERS SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

An open letter to theFirst MinisterFIRST Minister, I took myfirst step on the road toindependence by casting myvote for the SNP in 1970.Every fibre of my being

believed then, and now, thatthis was the correct directionfor the Scottish people.Many, many hurdles had to

be overcome before we becamea credible entity, not least,finding enough candidates.There was one other‘candidate’ problem: findingpeople whom the electoratecould trust.Being a Catholic there was

every possibility that therewould be times that anationalist candidate would bepresented to me whom, in allhonesty, I would be unable tovote for because of theirpersonal views. I, for instance,would be unable to vote for apro-abortion candidate.How was this to be

resolved? Well, it seemed,common sense would prevail.It became an unwritten rule

that independence must be apriority and, when this wasachieved, we would all decidein the ‘New Scotland’ whomwe would elect to form ourtruly representativegovernment.No controversial decisions

would be made in themeantime. I then was atliberty to vote for my‘independence’ candidate witha free conscience. This systemgot us to where we are today.Now, for no apparent

reason, you change the rules. Iknow that my SNPMSP willsupport this bill and it will beagainst my wishes.You gave me no prior

warning that this couldhappen and now, bluntly, youhave betrayed me and allother, like minded, peoplewho entrusted our vote to you.Betrayed because I cannot

cancel my vote before this isdecided. This law, if passed,will undermine everything Ibelieve in. You walked meinto a trap. I have believed inyou as an honourable man andI have fought your cornerevery time you came underattack by the spinelessopposition. Where do I gofrom here?

There is no reason to dothis. This could quite easily beput to the people in the firstpost-independence GeneralElection. You are risking thefate of our country for nogood reason. You haveenraged so many people,including myself. I want anindependent Scotland but, notjust at ‘any’ price. At a stroke,you have divided us when thisis a time for unity.We are almost over the line

and yet now, you decide tosabotage every effort that I,and people like me, have putin to get us this far.Sadly, time is not on my

side, this could be my finalchance to be free and youcould be about to deprive meof my dream. Of all theimportant pieces of legislationyou could have proposed youchose to support a minority ofa minority. Not allhomosexuals are eveninterested in marriage. I amcompletely lost to understandyour thinking.A sad, and disillusioned,

nationalist.NAME AND ADDRESSSUPPLIED

Protecting the rights ofChristians in PakistanI REPRESENT a Scottishbased human rights charityfoundation Insaaf—meaning‘justice’—recently set up by agroup of professionalindividuals consisting ofvarious diverse backgroundsand religions, however we arepredominantly Muslim. All ofour staff are volunteers with a

passion for equality andhuman rights at every level.Our organisation is working

on the ground in Pakistan withseveral partners supportingand protecting the abused,vulnerable and at riskcommunities there and we areparticularly concerned aboutthe continuous abuse andblatant disregard for humanrights in the country.Pakistan today has more

than three millionChristians—the majority ofthem, Catholic— living insqualid slums and inincredible poverty. ThePakistani Christians arescattered all over the countryand are forced to put up withsome of the most heinoushumanitarian crimesimaginable. They areconsidered to be the lowestcast and the most at riskcommunity, facingtremendous hardships on adaily basis.Christians are routinely

killed, abused, violated orabducted without receivingany appropriate justice and asrecently as a few months agoseveral high profile Christianshave been assassinatedbecause of their beliefs andbecause of demanding equalityfor their community.Sadly, more than 30,000

people die each year inPakistan because of sectarianviolence and a majority ofthese people are Christians.Our organisation is

currently providing freehealthcare, free medicine andfree legal support to those

Christians who are victims ofabuse and violations. We arealso lobbying and taking totask the government, localauthorities, the police andother institutions in Pakistanas regards to the issues thatneed to be addressed andcorrected.We are also planning a

national church tourpublicising the plight ofChristians and minorities inPakistan. The presentation isno more than one hour. Anychurches/parishes that wouldlike to facilitate ourpresentation please get intouch with us by email:[email protected] orcall: 07541 720809.We are also currently

planning a peaceful protestoutside the PakistaniConsulate in Glasgow to showour support against thecountry’s blasphemy laws.Details will be available soon.I would appreciate it very

much if you could circulatethis message to all yourchurches, contacts andparishes and please visit ourwebsite to see the workthat we do:www.equality-insaaf.org.Khalid SarwarINSAAF CO-ORDINATOR

Challenges ahead forArchbishop TartagliaI WOULD like to congratu-late the SCO on its excellentcoverage of ArchbishopTartaglia’s installation.Together with the interview

the week before, your papergave an insight into thisimportant event that was to befound nowhere else.The new archbishop has a

tough and demanding jobahead of him, preaching theWord of God in an age that isnot as receptive to religion.As it has in many times

before the Church is enteringan age where it will be farfrom the heart of power, atbest dismissed and at worstpersecuted. The new arch-bishop will need all the helphe can get, and the fine workof your newspaper will nodoubt be vital in bringing hismessage to Catholics acrossthis fair country.Andrew McInnesEDINBURGH

� SCO reserves the right to edit letters to conform with space orstyle requirements� This page is used solely for reader opinion and therefore viewsexpressed are not necessarily shared by SCO� If you would like to share your opinion, send yourcorrespondence to the above address� Whether you use e-mail or post, you must provide your full name,address, and phone number or your letter will not be used

LettersSCO, 19 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6BT

[email protected]

WEEKPICTUREOF THE

‘Religiousfreedom

isthebasicrightonwhichmanyrightsdepend’ THE Holy Father’s sage words that religious

freedom is necessary for peace in the MiddleEast have come at a pivotal time for theregion and also have resonance for Christiansthroughout the world. Pope Benedict XVI

summed up how vital this freedom is when he said ‘reli-gious freedom is the basic right on which many rightsdepend.’During his three-day visit to Lebanon, the Pope called

forArab societies to ‘move beyond tolerance to religiousfreedom.’During his visit, the Pope also signed a major docu-

ment calling on Catholics in the Middle East to engage indialogue with Orthodox, Jewish and Muslim neighboursand to affirm and defend their right to live freely in theregion where Christianity was born.He said Christians must do their part to end the ‘grim

trail of death and destruction’ in the region, adding ‘Iappeal to you all to be peacemakers.’The Holy Father’s words were brought home to the

Scottish faithful this week by Fr Samer Nassif, aMaronite priest from Lebanon, who works for theCatholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Atthe ACN Challenges of Change event in St Mirin’sCathedral, Paisley, yesterday, Fr Nassif said his countrywas a beacon of hope in a troubled region.“In Lebanon, Christianity is still a flourishing religion:

It is the only free Christianity in the Middle East,” hesaid. “After 40 years of Calvary, it is still standing tri-umphant. Lebanon is the onlyArab country, which has aChristian and a Catholic President. Without Christians,Lebanon would not exist. Blessed Pope John Paul II said:Lebanon is more than a country, it is a message.”He added that the Pope visited Lebanon to ‘give hope

to the birth pangs’ pain of democracy for Arab peoples.“Claiming freedom and human dignity, the peoples of

the Middle East are fighting against dictatorship andtheocracy,” Fr Nassif added.And while believers in our democratic country do not

live in daily fear for their lives, we do sharesolidarity with our Christian brothers andsisters in the Middle East in both theirsuffering and sacrifice. And make nomistake, while Christians in Scotlandmay not face overt persecution, themarginalisation of our values in thiscountry is just as clear and presenta danger.Like Christians in the Middle

East, we must protect our religiousfreedom and actively campaignagainst any political regime thatattempts to infringe on or curtail ourfreedoms through legislation, policyof practice. It is a sad day when ourfreedoms are merely tolerated, orworse, removed.The religious conflict in the Middle

East may put our religious problems anddifferences here in Scotland into perspective,

but it does not negate them.

SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

Opinion

Pilgrims were greeted byLebanon’s flag and a Rosaryformed from balloons at a youthencounter with Pope BenedictXVI outside the Maronitepatriarch’s residence in Bkerke,Lebanon, on Saturday

SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

MINISTER for Health? Minister forDeath is surely is a reasonableenough conclusion to draw frompretty much the first utterancesfrom Anna Soubry, the new UK

Junior Minister for Health. The ink on her officialletter of appointment was hardly dry when shegave an interview to The Times declaring her per-sonal support for euthanasia. Newly promoted members of the government

get parachuted into their responsibilities with littletime to grapple with their portfolio before themedia is searching out a soundbite. A grace periodin which they are allowed some gaffes or ill-judged comments is fair enough. But to be so wideof the mark has to be a sign of someone who isvery stupid, and I think we can say that is not thecase, or someone who has a stonking great pro-euthanasia agenda. But the clue is in the job title.She, and her Liberal Democrat colleague, NormanLamb, who with his own comments was clearlybacking her to the hilt, should be focusing theirefforts on ensuring that the health care needs of thecountry are met and the vulnerable are protected.It shouldn’t be too much to expect health to be thepriority of a health minister. Ms Soubry is quite entitled to her belief that it is

‘ridiculous and appalling’ that disabled and chron-ically ill people cannot be helped to die in the UKbut I would like her to explain why she was sokeen to state it so publicly just as soon as she wasin office, when, apparently, she was more than atad reticent prior to the election.According to SPUC’s Paul Tully she failed to

respond to constituents’ enquires about her posi-tion on assisted suicide and other pro-life issues.Interestingly, as Mr Tully points out, there was nospecific mention of the terminally ill in her com-

ment but rather ‘those who go abroad to commitsuicide who have included disabled people of dif-ferent ages, some with long life expectancy.’The government big guns came out swiftly in

her defence; she was airing her personal views,said the chief whip, as he urged her colleagues togive her a ‘break and time to find her feet’ whenshe was described as a ‘train wreck’ and there werecalls for her resignation. But this is a woman whohas a media career to her credit and is a formerbarrister—she knows exactly what she is doing.Euthanasia is top of the agenda for some politi-cians; let’s make no mistake about it. The good news is that a new poll has revealed

that 67 per cent of MPs in England and Walesoppose legalising assisted suicide for adults who arementally competent and have less than 12 months tolive, with only a quarter in favour. And it gets bet-ter; MPs in Scotland registered 86 per cent against.

On the medical front, last week, there wasmore bad news though. While the BMAhas remained resolutely against euthanasia

throughout its 180-year existence will that changeif the recently elected deputy chairman gets hisway? On his election, Dr Kailash Chand—a retiredGP—promised to ‘champion the principles of uni-versal healthcare that have made the NHS such anenvy of the world.’ Sounds like a good man tohave on the team but, just like Anna Soubry, he hasless laudable aims. In 2009, he attempted to get the BMA to agree

to assisted death—both euthanasia and assistedsuicide—and has since indicated his intention totry again. He is a member of the Health Profes-sionals for Assisted Death which is the medicalarm of the former Voluntary Euthanasia Society,now known, more disingenuously, as Dignity inDying. While both organisations’ stated policy—for the moment, anyway—supports assisted sui-cide but not euthanasia, Dr Chand has a‘compelling list’of reasons for legalising the wholebang shoot.

THAT’S LIFE 15SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERFriday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

Scottish Catholic Observer:Scotland’s only national

Catholic weekly newspaperprinted by Trinity Mirror, Oldham.Registered at the Post Office

as a newspaper.

First entry out the hat nextTUESDAY will be the winner

Send your completedcrossword entries—along withyour full name address anddaytime phone number—toCROSSWORD CONTEST SCO 19WATERLOO ST GLASGOW G26BT

The winner’s name will beprinted next week

The editor’s decision is final

LAST WEEK’SSOLUTION

ACROSS1 Cub 3 Masking tape 8 Rouble 9 Sergeant10 Simon 11 Trout13 Brews 15 Nonagon16 Gabriel 20 Delay21 Giant 23 Float24 Harmless 25 Reveal26 Endorsement 27 Tee

DOWN1 Christening2 Blue moon 3 Melon4 Kestrel 5 Gigot6 Amazon 7 Eat12 Tagliatelle 13 Blood14 Shady 17 Innocent18 Blossom 19 Ramrod22 Tiler 23 Fleet 24 Hoe

CROSSWORD

SSCCOO ppaaggeess tthhrroouugghh tthhee aaggeess

SSCCOO ppaaggeess tthhrroouugghh tthhee aaggeess

2255 yyeeaarrss aaggoo

THE news story that captured the atten-tion of The Scottish Catholic Observerreaders 25 years ago surprisinglyemanated from Hollywood, where PopeJohn Paul II had been highly critical ofthe film making industry, claiming thattheir top priority was making money,when they should be trying to help others. “Pope John Paul II slammed the Holly-

wood film industry’s apparent obsession withmoney-making and urged its Californiamoguls to re-think their priorities, when headdressed 2000 studio chiefs, producers,directors and film-stars,” the article said.The Pope made some hard-hitting state-

ments in his address directed towards to thefilm industry, where he heavily criticised theportrayal of both sex and violence on screen,showing that the Holy Father cared about awide range of social problems.“His words are being seen as strongly sup-

portive of government efforts to take toughaction in this area of American life and havebeen warmly welcomed by Americans of alldenominations,” the article continued.The statements had been made during the

Holy Father’s trip to the southern and west-ern states of the US, a trip where he hadalready visited the then President RonaldReagan for private talks in Miami.

5500 yyeeaarrss aaggoo

FIFTY years ago in the SCO, the emer-gency plans to be put in place to coverScotland’s teacher shortage and beat theclassroom chaos that so many people wereconcerned about was one of the top stories.“Behind the advertisements appearing last

weekend lies the shadow of threat to Catholiceducation,” the article said. “The advertise-ments sought three teachers for CowieCatholic Primary School, where a staff short-age could eventually lead to part-time educa-tion for the pupils.”At the time in Scotland there was a serious

lack of Catholic school teachers and Catholicschools, such as the one in Cowie, were suf-fering. A statement from Stirlingshire Countyeducation committee said that if ‘teacherscould not be found, the education committeewould almost certainly have to introducepart-time education in the Cowie Catholicschool.’The city of Glasgow itself was short of

1300 teachers and they were afraid that if thewinter was harsh, teachers would be unableto get to classes to teach, classes that werealready overcrowded, leading to a furtherdecline in education in the city. They wantedto start a drive to train new teachers and getthem to teach in Glasgow.

STEPHEN EDWARDSON

Anna Soubry MP, the current Junior Minister of Health,has faced strong criticism for her outspoken personal support for the practice of euthanasia

ACROSS1 One who can sense thought should fear being taken in

by a gold-digger (4-6)6 Fashionable (4)10 Youngster (5)11 Capable of speaking in either of two languages (9)12 Scorch the Mediterranean, being so lucky (7)15 Contribution to one’s religious organisation,

amounting to one-tenth of one's income (5)17 Curved structure (4)18 Removed (4)19 Bird one might greet strangely (5)21 Make the bounder admit there's a body here (7)23 This tree allows the learner get 17 across (5)24 Mexican filled pancake (4)25 Periphery (4)26 Cleaned with a cloth (5)28 Popular Spanish drink (7)33 Nelson’s final naval battle might have disrupted the raft

gala, right? (9)34 Copper or lead, for example (5)35 Riverside plant (4)36 Gave back-up to some finer decor (10)

DOWN2 One who lives locally—in Ramsay St? (9)3 Supplementary clause found on horseback (5)4 Stroll (5)5 Ms Fitzgerald is to be found in the middle of a cellar (4)7 Is it not what the ghost of your huncle might do? (5)8&27 With a cool latte, pencil out where donations may be

placed (10,5)9 Ruth, or Esther perhaps - (it's not the same) (7)13 Nominally, Mother has two degrees (4)14 Might they be sued for as the beastly female gets older? (7)16 What’s in the bottle may not be sparkling, yet it is

Adam’s Ale (5,5)20 True-to-life (9)21 Popular cheese (7)22 Note, it turns up at Public School (4)27 See 8 down29 Moses’ brother appeared in the article before Nora

turned up (5)30 Cajun stew (5)31 Leer (4)32 Attired (4)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9

10 11

12 13 14 15

16 17

18 19 20

21 22

23 24

2526 27 28 29 30

31 32

33 34

35 36

Gordius No 57

Last week’s winner was:B McCrossan, Motherwell

By MaryMcGinty

Does politician believe in life before death?THAT’S LIFE asks us to ponder that question in light of the Junior Minister for Health’s support for euthanasia

Our weekly series on Children’s Liturgy has lesson plans and activity suggestions for use with youngpeople who are on the path to Christ

Each week, Catechists will find readings and Psalm responses, complemented by prayer, reflection,discussion questions, and activities. Please feel free to use them as you wish

The lessons are created by Adorer-theologians using the lens of the spirituality of St Maria de Mattias,which also embraces precious blood spirituality

While this is the starting point for the lessons, readers are invited to approach them however the spiritmoves you

The Church is concerned with the availability and understanding of scripture for children who have theirrightful place in the Church. In light of this SCO aims to provide a useful tool in drawing children closer tothe Catholic Faith

FAITHFIRSTKIDS

Twenty-Sixth Sunday inOrdinary Time—FirstReadingAre you jealous on my account? Who decrees that allpeople may prophesy? A reading from the book ofNumbers 11:25-29.

The Lord came down in a cloud and spoke withMoses. Then He took some of the Spirit’s powerthat He had given to Moses, and He gave it tothe 70 leaders.The men prophesied, but they did it only this onetime. Two of the leaders had stayed in campand had not gone out to the sacred tent. Theywere Eldad and Medad. But the Spirit also tookcontrol of them, and they prophesied.A young man went and told Moses: “Eldad andMedad are prophesying in camp.”Joshua son of Nun was still a boy when he firststarted helping Moses. Joshua was there at the timeand said to him: “Master, make those men stop!”Moses replied: “Are you saying this for my good?I wish the Lord would give His Spirit to all Hispeople and let them become His prophets!”The Word of the Lord

ReflectionTODAY’S FirstReading andGospel are aboutthe necessity foreveryone to usethe gifts God hasgiven them tomake the world abetter place. Both stories tell about somepeople who were not part of the ‘chosengroup’ but who were doing good things.Members of the groups were upsetbecause they thought they should be theonly ones who should be able to do goodthings. Moses and Jesus both said: “Howsilly is that? We are trying to make theworld better and anyone who wants tohelp is welcome!”Being part of a group like the cubs,

the brownies, our Church, our family,and our neighborhood or part of a team,such as football, rugby, and so on, makesus proud because we share many of thesame beliefs with the group and we workwith the group to reach goals. Weusually know the other people in groupfairly well. Sometimes we get so caughtup in being part of that group that webecome competitive with other groups.For example, we think our school isbetter than another school or our teamplays better than another team or ourchurch is better than another church.This makes it hard to see the good thingsthat other groups are doing.Today we are taught that every one is

responsible for building God’s Kingdomno matter what group to which theybelong. We all belong to the biggest

group of all, God’s family and as part ofthat group we must use our talents tomake the world a better place. We mustalso appreciate the talents that otherpeople offer towards that same goal.Just because someone does not go to ourchurch or our school does

Activity�� Materials needed: A bag of chocolatebuttons a box of raisins, granola, plaincrisps, small bowls, a large bowl, spoonsand small plastic bags.�� Preparation: Place each of the food itemsin a small bowl. The kids will be separatedinto small groups. Each group will haveone of the items. Once group will have thechocolate buttons, another will have theraisins, another will have the spoons,another will have the big bowl, and so on.

Discussion�� Tell the children that they are going tomake a snack mixture and that after it ismade every one will be able to take a smallbag of it home with them. �� Talk to the children about the componentseach group has. Talk about which componentmight be ‘the best.’ They will probably saythe chocolate buttons but then talk abouthow salty items such as the nuts and crispsmake the sweets taste even sweeter. �� Talk about the necessity of the largebowl to mix it up. Talk about how hard itwould be to take it home without the samllplastic bags. �� Correlate this to today’s message abouteveryone using their own gifts to make theworld better and how different groups canwork together to accomplish this goal. �� Have each group contribute their part to

making the snack mixture. Give each childa bag to take home.

PrayerDear Jesus, thank you for all of the peoplewho are working to make the world a betterplace. Please help me to recognise yourlove and spirit in all people. In your namewe pray. Amen.

Responsorial Psalm66:1-3ab, 4-5, 16 and 20(R) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.Tell everyone on this earth to shout praisesto God!Sing about His glorious name, honour Himwith praises.Say to God: “Everything you do is fearsome!”(R) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.“You are worshiped by everyone! We allsing praises to you.”Come and see the fearsome things our Godhas done!(R) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.All who worship God, come here and lis-ten; I will tell you everything God has donefor me.Let’s praise God! He listened when Iprayed, and He was always kind.(R) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Second ReadingYour wealth is rotting. A reading from the letterof James 5:1-6.Brothers and sisters, you rich peopleshould cry and weep! Terrible things aregoing to happen to you. Your treasureshave already rotted, and moths have eatenyour clothes. Your money has rusted,and the rust will be evidence against you,as it burns your body like fire.Yet you keep on storing up wealth in

these last days. You refused to pay the peo-ple who worked in your fields, and nowtheir unpaid wages are shouting out againstyou. The Lord All-Powerful has surelyheard the cries of the workers who har-vested your crops.While here on earth, you have thought

only of filling your own stomachs and hav-ing a good time. But now you are like fatcattle on their way to be butchered. Youhave condemned and murdered innocentpeople, who couldn’t even fight back.The Word of the Lord

AlleluiaJohn 17:17b, 17a(R) Alleluia, alleluia. Your word, O Lord, is truth; make us holyin the truth.(R) Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelAnyone who is not against us is for us. A readingfrom the Holy Gospel according to Mark 9:38-41.The disciple John said to Jesus: “Teacher,we saw a man using your name to forcedemons out of people. But he was not oneof us, and we told him to stop.”Jesus said to His disciples: “Don’t stop

him! No one who works miracles in myname will soon turn and say something badabout me. Anyone who is not against us isfor us. And anyone who gives you a cup ofwater in my name, just because you belongto me, will surely be rewarded.”The Gospel of the Lord.

The Children’s Liturgy page is published oneweek in advance to allow RE teachers and thosetaking the Children’s Liturgy at weekly Masses touse, if they wish, this page as an accompanimentto their teaching materials

16 CHILDREN’S LITURGY SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

ADVERTISING TERMS AND CONDITIONSAdvertisements submitted must contain complete and accurateinformation and comply with requirements of all relevant legislation,the British Code of Advertising Practice, and the AdvertisingStandards Authority. The publisher has the right, at its discretion, torefuse, omit, suspend, or change the position of advertisements, orrequire artwork or copy to be amended to comply with any moral orlegal obligations. The publisher will not be liable for any loss ofrevenue to the advertiser incurred as a consequence ofnon-publication or incorrect reproduction of an advertisement.Advertisements may be cancelled within 14 days of an order beingreceived and not less than a minimum of 24 hours before deadlinefor entry. Any cancellations outside this period will not affect thebuyer’s liability for payment for the advertisement. Payment foradvertisements must be received within 30 days. Any order, verbal orwritten, which is placed for the insertion of an advertisementamounts to an acceptance of these conditions.

Friday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

CHURCH & PUBLIC NOTICES

CHURCH NOTICES 17

PERSONAL

VOCATIONS

Then wecan help

you

Do you feel thatGod is callingyou to the

MissionaryPriesthood

The Vocations DirectorSMA FATHERS

St TheresaʼsClarendon Place, Dunblane

Perthshire FK15 9HB

Contact:

UNATTACHED?Join the

CATHOLICUNATTACHEDDIRECTORY

Tel: 01322 222 213for free brochure

JERICHO“The

Compassion ofJesus.”

Drug &Alcohol Rehabs.,Refuge for Victims ofDomestic Violence,

SupportedAccommodationfor the Destitute, the

Distressed, and all being‘passed by on the other side.’ACOMMUNITYOFMEN OF PRAYER FOROUR TIMES (founded 1970)

Vocation info fromBro Patrick Mullen,The Jericho Society,

Mater Salvatoris, Harelaw Farm,Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, PA10 2PYScottish Charity SC016909

Tel: 01505 614669Email:

[email protected]

NOVENA

Diocese of Motherwell� Healing Ministry,Tent of Divine Mercy Ministry,Meets on the 1st Saturday ofthe month,St Francis Xavier’s Church,Carfin,Saturday 2 – 4.30pm

Archdiocese of Glasgow� Rhema Prayer CommunityLife in the Spirit Seminarstarting Wednesday 3rdOctober.St Mary’s RC Church,89 Abercromby Street, Calton,Glasgow. G40 2DQWednesday 8.00pm

Prayer Group Meeting Times

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FEAST OFOUR LADY OF

MERCYSt. Catharine’s Convent4 Lauriston GardensEdinburgh EH3 9HH

THE SISTERS OF MERCYInvite you to theCELEBRATION

OF THEIRCONGREGATIONAL FEAST DAY

Mass celebrated at 6 p.m.on

SUNDAY 23rd SEPTEMBER 2012by

Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien

FEAST OFOUR LADY OF

MERCY

EXPERTSERVICES

Catholic Charismatic RenewalSt.Andrews and EdinburghArchdiocese

Day of RenewalAtNEW VENUE St JohnOgilvie’s Church,Wester Hailes, Edinburgh

Saturday 29 September 201210.30am concluding with Mass at 3.30pm

Speaker: Canon Willie FraserTheme: I am theway, the truth and the life.No-onecomes to the

Father except throughme. Jn14:6All welcome - Please bring lunch and your bible

Information: Carol Masterton 01506 495517 or Martin Giblin 07715 548250

The Society of the InnocentsMotherwell Branch

Weoffer free pregnancy tests, counselling andpractical helpANNUAL MASS AND

TORCHLIGHT PROCESSIONMonday 1st October at 7.30pm

St Francis Xavierʼs Church, CarfinALL WELCOME

Tea will be served afterwards

MONTHLYMEDJUGORJEEVENINGST JOHN THEBAPTISTʼS CHURCH

Lower MillgateUDDINGSTON

on Monday September 24th 2012Rosary at 7.15pm �Mass at 7.30pm

Light refreshments in the hall afterwardsALLWELCOMEDivine Mercy Mass

St Conval’s Church,Greenfarm Road, Linwood, PA3 3HB

Celebrated by Father Willie Brandon

Friday 28 September 2012,7.00 p.m.

Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet,Holy Mass followed by Adoration

This is a monthly event, taking place on the last Friday of each month,for further information please contact

Mrs Helen Border 01505-336269

Music forthe new Riteof Mass

Diocese of Motherwell Liturgy Agencyhas organised 2 music workshops tolook at music for the new Rite ofMass. These are intended for

parish musicians/singers/organists.

EVENT 1 – Holy Family, MossendTuesday 2nd October at 7.30pm

EVENT 2 – Motherwell CathedralTuesday 9th October at 7.30pmAnyone with an interest in liturgicalmusic will be made most welcome

SCOT-COVERRE-UPHOLSTERY

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MARLEYJohn, 81 years.Peacefully at home with hisfamily, on Sunday, September16, 2012, dearly loved hus-band of Annie for 58 years,much loved brother of Eddie,Andrew and the late James.Adored father of Anne Marie,Teresa, Yvonne, John andElaine, grandfather of fourteenand great-grandfather of four,who always made him smile.Funeral took place at Christthe King Church, Kingspark,on Thursday, September 20.

MacLELLAN,Donald RoderickIn loving remembrance of mydear husband, dear father andgrandfather, Donald Roderick,who died January 27, 2006,and whose birthday falls onSeptember 22. Also remem-ber his sister Mary, who diedAugust 12, 2009, and whosebirthday falls on September 27.Always in our hearts and inour prayers.Inserted by Flora and family.

GALBRAITHSixth AnniversaryIn remembrance of the VeryReverend John Angus CanonGalbraith, former parish priestof Daliburgh and Eriskay, Dio-cese of Argyll and the Isles,who died September 27,2006.Gum biodh fois aig anam annan sith Chriosda.May his soul rest in the peaceof Christ.Remembered always by hisfriends in South Uist, Eriskay,Barra and Oban.

TANSEY24th AnniversaryOf your charity, please pray forthe soul of Reverend AnthonyTansey (retired P.P. HolyCross Church, Croy), whodied September 17, 1988.Our Lady, Queen and Mother,pray for him.

BONNERIn loving memory of our dearmum, and gran, Mollie McLel-lan, who died September 24,1983.When going through our dailytasks,We always think of you,It seems to us you’re still righthere,Only with a higher view.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forher.Inserted by her loving daugh-ters and grandchildren.

BOYLE23rd AnniversaryTreasured memories of ourdear aunt, Theresa, who diedSeptember 26, 1989. R.I.P.You were always so thought-ful, loving and kind,These are the memories youleft behind.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forher.Inserted by her nieces Cather-ine and Janette and families.

BROWN1st AnniversaryTreasured memories of mybeloved husband, dear fatherand grandfather, Hamilton,who died on September 22,2011.May he rest in peace.Sacred Heart of Jesus, OurLady of Fatima and St Joseph,pray for him.Inserted by Julia and family.

CAMERON10th AnniversaryPrecious memories of Jean,beloved wife of the lateJohnny and loving mother,grandmother and great-grand-mother, who died suddenly onSeptember 20, 2002.Softly in the morning,You heard a gentle call,You took the hand God offeredyou,And quietly left us all,To know we never said good-bye,Will always bring regret,But the hearts that truly lovedyou,Are the hearts that won’t for-get.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forher.Forever in our hearts.Inserted by Anne, Joseph,John, Maria and all the family.

DONNELLYIn loving memory of mybrother, James, who died Sep-tember 26, 1996.St John Bosco, pray for him.His loving sister Margaret andfamily.

GALLAGHERNeil and Helen9th Anniversary.In loving memory of ourdevoted and much lovedparents and grandparents,Neil, died September 14,2003,and Helen, died September29, 2003, also rememberingour beloved brothers,Robert, died October 28,1981 and Gerard, died April12, 2009.“Whatever we were to eachother, that we are still.”Will those who think of themtoday,A little prayer to Jesus say.Eternal rest grant untothem, O Lord,And let perpetual light shineupon them.May they rest in peace.St Thérese (Little Flower) andSt Pio, pray for them.All your loving family.

INNES6th AnniversaryIn loving memory of James,who died September 22,2006.We miss your worldlywisdom,And your funny little ways,But most of all we miss yourpresence,Now and every day.To a much loved brother anduncle.Inserted by the family.

JONESIn loving memory of ourwonderful dad, Kevin, whodied on September 20, 2003,loving father, grandfather andgreat-grandfather.We lived in hope,We prayed in vain,That God would make youwell again,But He decided we mustpart,He eased your pain, butbroke our hearts,But you did not go aloneDad,For part us went with you,The day God called youhome,You suffered much insilence,Your spirit did not bend,You bore your cross withdignity,Until the very end.So loved and so sadlymissed.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forhim.Inserted by all his lovingfamily.

KENNEDY21st AnniversaryIn loving memory of my dearhusband, and our father, John,accidentally drowned onFriday, September 27, 1991.In the shelter of Thy SacredHeart,Dear Jesus, may he rest.Inserted by his wife Peggy,Donald John, Donna Marieand John Paul.

KELLY3rd AnniversaryLoving memories of ourbeloved Anthony whom Godcalled home on September24, 2009. R.I.P.Next time we meet it will be forall eternity.No more parting, tears, sorrowor pain.Let perpetual light shine uponhim.Inserted by Mum, Dad, Kath-leen and Kevin.

LAFFERTY6th AnniversaryIn loving memory of ourbeloved mother, gran andgreat-gran, Sarah, who diedon September 25, 2006, aged92.In the shelter of thy SacredHeart,Dear Jesus may she rest inpeace.Remembered also in ourthoughts and prayers, ourfather, William, brother, Philip,sister Betty and nephews Pauland Dominic.Eternal rest grant unto them,O Lord,And let perpetual light shineupon them,May they rest in peace.Amen.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forthem.Inserted by their loving family.

McALEERAnniversaryIn loving memory of a dearwife and mum, MargaretShields, who died September27, 2006.Forever in our hearts andsadly missed.Inserted by Arthur and family.

McCABEIn loving memory of a dearmother and grandmother,Sarah, who died on Septem-ber 21, 2007.Our Lady of Fatima, pray forher.Inserted by the family.

McCANN20th AnniversaryIn loving memory of my dearmother, Sarah Doherty, diedSeptember 22, 1992, my dearfather, Hugh, died November21, 1967, also my dear sister,Mary, died December 20,2002.Quietly today your memory wetreasure,Loving you always, forgettingyou never.Eternal rest grant unto them,O Lord,And let perpetual light shineupon them.May they rest in peace.Inserted by Hugh, Stella andfamily.

McCARRON14th Anniversary.In your prayers, pleaseremember John McCarron,who died September 22,1998. He was much loved byhis wife Isabel, their six chil-dren and all the grandchildren.Eternal rest grant unto him, OLord.May he rest in peace. Amen.

MacDONALDIn loving memory of my dearhusband, our father andgrandfather, Angus John, whodied September 21, 1995.R.I.P.As life goes on without you,The days turn into years,We hold a million memories,And many silent tears.Inserted by his wife and family,South Uist.

MacDONALDIn loving memory of ourbrother and uncle, Donald,died September 24, 2007.Your love was something spe-cial,It lasted to the end,The day we lost our brotherand uncle,We also lost a friend.Will those who think of Donaldtoday,A little prayer to Jesus say.Inserted by sisters and theirfamilies, South Uist and Oban.

MacDONALDIn loving memory of Alistair,who died September 18,2005, aged 45 years. R.I.P.As we loved him so wemiss him,In our memories he is dear,Loved, remembered, thoughtof always,Bringing many a silent tear.Our Lady of the Isles, pray forhim.Still sorely missed by hismother, uncle, Gerinish, andhis relatives.

McFADYEN2nd Anniversary of Samuel,died suddenly on September22, 2010.Will those who think of Samtoday,A little prayer to Jesus say.Inserted by his loving wifeHelen, daughters MargaretMary, Siobhan and wee Sam.

McGUIRE16th AnniversaryPlease pray for the repose ofthe soul of our dear father,Patrick McGuire, who diedSeptember 26, 1996; our dearmother, Catherine, who diedJuly 22, 1994; also our dearbrother-in-law, Roy Moon,died September 28, 1998.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forthem.Inserted by their loving family.

MacINTYRERemembering with much loveour father and grandfather,James, who died on Septem-ber 18, 2001. Also his wife,Mary, who died June 2, 1998.May the winds of time blowgently,And whisper for you to hear,That we will always love you,And wish so much that youwere here,In our hearts you have left agap,That no one else can fill,You have gone and yet itseems,That you are with us still.We picture a beautiful garden,And by that gate you stand,One day that gate will open,And you will take our hand.Sacred Heart of Jesus, grantthem eternal rest.Love and miss you both.From all your loving familyhome and away.

MacKINNONIn loving memory of my dearmother, Catherine, who diedSeptember 23, 1959.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forher.Mary and family, South Uistand away.

MacLELLANIn loving memory of mybeloved only brother, DonaldArchie, died September 22,1980.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray forhim and for my parents andmy sisters Mary, Penny andMorag.So sadly missed.Rest in Peace.Rhoda, Donald and family,Boisdale.

MacLELLAN, Ronald5th AnniversaryIn loving memory of Ronald,who died September 21,2007, South Uist.Our Lady of the Isles, pray forhim.Katiebell, Anna and all thefamily.

MacLEODIn loving memory of our dearmother, Agnes, who sadly diedon September 23, 1987.Each time we look at your pic-ture,You seem to smile and say,Don’t be sad but couragetake,And love each other for mysake,Dearer to us than words cantell,Was the mother we loved sovery well,We will not forget her,We never intend,We think of her daily and willto the end.Take her in Thine arms OLord,And love her just for us.Inserted by Robert, Helenaand families.

MEMORIAM

RELIGIOUS MEMORIAM

BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE

DEATH

18 FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announcing,Remembering,ThankingBirths, Marriages,

Deaths,Anniversaries

To place a Family Announcement Contact Patricia Cairney: 0141 241 6106

Place Your Intimation

NOVENA TO THE SACREDHEART OF JESUS.O Jesus who said ‘ask andyou shall receive, seek andyou shall find, knock and itshall be opened to you,’through the intercession ofMary your most Holy Mother, Iknock. I ask that my prayerwill be granted (makerequest). O Jesus who hassaid whatsoever you ask theFather in my name, it shall begranted to you through theintercession of Mary, yourmost Holy Mother. I ask theFather in your name that myprayer be granted (makerequest). O Jesus who said‘Heaven and Earth shall passaway but my words will notpass away’ through the inter-cession of Mary your mostHoly Mother, I feel confidentthat my prayer be granted(make request). Publicationmust be promised. Say hourlyfor nine hours. One day only.– M.A & C.S.

NOVENA to St Therese of theLittle Flower.Saint Therese, the LittleFlower, please pick me a rosefrom the heavenly garden andsend it to me with a messageof love. Ask God to grant methe favour I thee implore andtell Him I will love Him eachday more and more.The above prayer plus 5 OurFathers, 5 Hail Marys and 5

Glory Be’s must be said on 5successive days before 11a.m. On the 5th day, the 5thset of prayers having beencompleted, offer one more set– 5 Our Fathers, 5 Hail Marysand 5 Glory Be’s. Publicationpromised. – L.McN.

POWERFUL NOVENAOf Childlike Confidence(This novena is to be said atthe same time, every hour, fornine consecutive hours – justone day). O Jesus, who hastsaid, ask and you shallreceive, seek and you shallfind, knock and it shall beopened to you, through theintercession of Mary, Thy MostHoly Mother, I knock, I seek, Iask that my prayer be granted(make your request). O Jesus,who hast said, all that you askof the Father in My name, Hewill grant you through theintercession of Mary, Thy MostHoly Mother, I humbly andurgently ask Thy Father, inThy name, that my prayer begranted (make your request).O Jesus, who hast said,Heaven and Earth shall passaway but My word shall notpass, through the intercessionof Mary, Thy Most HolyMother, I feel confident thatmy prayer shall be granted(make your request); publica-tion promised. – P.C.

POWERFUL NOVENAOf Childlike Confidence(This novena is to be said atthe same time, every hour, fornine consecutive hours – justone day). O Jesus, who hastsaid, ask and you shallreceive, seek and you shallfind, knock and it shall beopened to you, through theintercession of Mary, Thy MostHoly Mother, I knock, I seek, Iask that my prayer be granted(make your request). O Jesus,who hast said, all that you askof the Father in My name, Hewill grant you through theintercession of Mary, Thy MostHoly Mother, I humbly andurgently ask Thy Father, inThy name, that my prayer begranted (make your request).O Jesus, who hast said,Heaven and Earth shall passaway but My word shall notpass, through the intercessionof Mary, Thy Most HolyMother, I feel confident thatmy prayer shall be granted(make your request); publica-tion promised. – G.N.

GRATEFUL thanks to theSacred Heart, Our BlessedLady, St Martha, St Pio, StAnthony and all saints towhom I pray. Still praying.Publication promised. – D.S.

GRATEFUL thanks to theSacred Heart, Our BlessedLady, and St Martha. - P.C.

FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTSMOFFAT14th Anniversary (08.09.1998)In loving memory of our pre-cious triplet babies, Olivia,Peter and Mark.Forever in our hearts.Love and miss you every day.Mum, Dad and little brotherand sister. xxxLove you always.Gran Fay, aunties, uncles andcousins. xxx

MURRAYPlease pray for the repose ofthe soul of William, loving hus-band of the late Anne Marie,loving father, grandfather andgreat-grandfather, who sadlydied September 20, 2001.No one knows the brokenheart.That lies behind my smile,No one knows the heartache,That’s with me all the while,Silent tears do gently fall,Which others do not see,For the kind and loving dad,Who meant the world to me.Also remembering all lovedones gone before and after.From Margaret and Tommy.Thank you for the years weshared,The love you gave, the wayyou cared,Deep in our hearts your mem-ory is kept,Too dearly loved to ever forget.Love and miss you granda.Love from Elle, Nicole, Seanand Jamie.

ROUSELoving memories of a deardad, Vincent, died September26, 1974, beloved husband ofthe late Nan, a dear and won-derful mother, died March 7,2002.Deep in our hearts you willalways be loved and remem-bered.From all the family.

TRAINERPrecious memories of John,loving husband of the lateCathie, father and grandfa-ther, who died September 14,2006.We hold you close within ourhearts,And there you will remain,To walk with us throughout ourlives,Until we meet again,So rest in peace dear lovedone,And thanks for all you’vedone,We pray that God has givenyou,The crown you’ve truly won.Forever in our thoughts andprayers.Sadly missed by all the family.

GRATEFUL thanks to theSacred Heart, Our Lady, StJude and St Anthony, forprayers answered. - M.N.

GRATEFUL thanks to theSacred Heart, Our Lady, StJoseph, St Anthony, StTheresa for prayersanswered. – P.G.

DEAR HEART OF JESUSDear Heart of Jesus in thepast I have asked you formany favours, this time I askyou for this special one (men-tion favour), take it Dear Heartof Jesus, and place it withinYour broken heart where yourFather sees it, then in his mer-ciful eyes it will become Yourfavour, not mine. Amen. Sayfor three days, publicationpromised. – L.B.

GRATEFUL thanks to theSacred Heart, Our Lady, StJude and St Anne for favoursand blessings received. –B.M.

DEAR HEART OF JESUSDear Heart of Jesus in thepast I have asked you formany favours, this time I askyou for this special one (men-tion favour), take it Dear Heartof Jesus, and place it withinYour broken heart where yourFather sees it, then in his mer-ciful eyes it will become Yourfavour, not mine. Amen. Sayfor three days, publicationpromised. – A.McL.

Friday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS 19SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

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Sacrifice of martyrsmoulded the Church

A HISTORY OF THE PAPACY

LAST week we saw that theRoman state graduallyincreased its persecution ofChristians. Why? It is a dif-ficult question. We have

already seen that the Romans viewedChristianity with the type of distaste thatwe encounter today from the new athe-ists. They were appalled at the Crucifix-ion, laughed at the Resurrection, andcould not comprehend what they saw asthe anti-social attitude of Christians.This manifested itself in Christianity’s

insistence on exclusivity, but also in itsrefusal to placate the old Roman gods.What was even worse was the totaldenial of the divine status of the emperor,expressed in an absolute ban on sacrific-ing to his statues, which made Christianstraitors. Such sacrifice was essential inthe Roman world view: it affirmed theemperor’s status, tied the diverse citiesand regions of the empire together, andwas a statement of allegiance.One can understand all these things,

yet this still makes the persecutions dif-ficult to understand. Indeed, one wouldargue that the persecution of the earlierChristians is, possibly, the oddestinstance of state-sponsored violence inhistory. Christians made up a minuteelement of the empire’s entire popula-tion, they were amongst the poorest insociety, and could not possibly be con-ceived as a real threat in any way.Perhaps the analogy should be with

contemporaryMuslims inWestern soci-eties. These, too, are small minorities,whose adherence is suspect in someeyes, who do not subscribe to the Lib-eral prescripts upon which our modernworld is built. Yet we do not kill Mus-lims in their thousands.Another analogy would be the Jews

in Europe. They were frequently vic-timised, often without any obvious rea-son. A refusal to become Christian wassometimes enough to spark a pogrom,even in places where there were veryfew Jews.At other times, it was the per-ceived threat from very large numbersof Jews, as in Spain and Poland on var-ious occasions, that caused trouble.However, analogies only get us so far:

the truth is that the situation of Chris-tians in the first three centuries afterChrist was unique. From the time of theEmperor Marcus Aurelius, persecutionbecame a ‘normal’ event, and mostChristians would at one time duringtheir lives have had to fear the ‘knockon the door.’Reactions to this within thecommunity varied, from those happilyaccepting martyrdom to those who com-promised their Faith by acquiescingwith the demands of the state. Indeed,what to do with the latter was one of theoverriding concerns of the Papacy.

Once more it is perhaps salutaryto recall the relative impotenceof the Papacy during this period.

It is one of the defining features of theearly Church, and one that rendersfacile comparisons between this periodand ours useless. Indeed, it is now morethan two centuries since a Pope was lastattacked by a worldly power, and muchlonger still since anyone dared raise hishands to his person. The Romans hadno such qualms.After the persecutions under Marcus

Aurelius there was a relative lull. Perse-cutions were localised at this time, as,for example, at Carthage in 203AD,where Ss Perpetua and Felicity wereamongst the many victims, and left theircrucially important eyewitness accountof their suffering. This lasted until theaccession of the Emperor Decius (249-251AD). From 211AD onwards, theempire had stumbled from crisis to cri-sis. Emperors were assassinated withgreat regularity. In 235AD, this turnedinto a great civil war, effectively a battlefor the soul of the Empire.Some, such as the Emperors Max-

imus Thrax and Decius, believed thatthe misfortunes of the empire were dueto the demise of the veneration of theancient gods. The internal wars weremarked by violent religious conflict, andChristianity now became caught up inthis. They were convinced that the lead-ership of the Church had tempted ‘goodRomans’ away from the faith of theirancestors, and attacked its leadership.Pope Pontian was the first victim. Hehad become Pope in 231AD, and hadmade his mark on the Church. Under hisPontificate, a synod was called that con-firmed the condemnation of Origen atAlexandria that same year, a strongmarker of Papal authority in the Church.This cut little icewith the new emperor:

St Pontian was exiled to Sardinia in238AD. The emperor was clever. Had he

killed the Holy Father, a new one wouldimmediately have been elected.Now,withthe Pope safely away on Sardinia, wherehe reputedly had to work in a mine, thepath was clear for a return of the ‘goodRoman fallen for Papal temptation.’ StPontian called his bluff: he became one ofthe few Popes ever to resign.We do notknow what became of him, but he haslong been revered as a martyr.His successor, St Anterus, ruled for

only 40 days. Tradition has it he wasmartyred for compiling a Martyrology.This is interesting, for it highlights thesophisticated understanding of Christian-ity developed by the imperial authorities.Martyrs were fast becoming the lifebloodof the Church, and their memory a pow-erful stimulus for growth. True, persecu-tions frequently caused many to fallaway, but the blood of martyrdom subse-quently called most back to the fold. Thetraditional tale of themartyrdom of PopeAnterus, seemingly rather odd, is, in fact,a powerful reminder that the empire hadthe sword, but the Popes, the pen.

Anterus was then succeeded byFabian. He was a farmer whohappened to be in Rome when

Anterus had been killed, and wasacclaimed Pope by the Christian com-munity, to everyone’s surprise.There followed a period of quiet, and

one begins to understand the resilience

of the Roman Christians when readingthat St Fabian began organising mis-sions to Gaul, modern-day France.Within Rome, he strengthened the struc-tures of the Church by appointing sevendeacons to supervise seven new districtsinto which he had divided his diocese.The peace was not to last: in 250AD

the Pope fell victim to the Decian Per-secutions. The new Emperor, Decius,convinced the empire had to removesects like Christianity to flourish again,ordered the resumption of the sacrificesto the Roman gods and the emperor.Those refusing to comply would bekilled. This began the first empire-widepersecution of Christians. Again, it wasthe clergy, and in particular the bishops,who were targeted.For the first time, we have truly reli-

able records of what happened. Therewas a three month gap between themartyrdom of St Fabian in January250AD and the election of St Corneliusin March. The emperor had left Rometo fight two rivals, and 16 bishopsassembled in the Eternal City to elect anew Pope. St Cyprian wrote that: “Bythe judgment of God and of Christ, bythe testimony of almost all the clergy, bythe vote of the people then present…when the place of Fabian, that is theplace of Peter…was vacant (Cornelius)took his seat… at a time when the tyrant(Emperor Decius) in his hatred of bish-

ops was making unspeakable threats.”This interesting little vignette shows

us the Christian community comingtogether to elect a new head, despite thethreats of martyrdom. There followed aschism, with a Roman priest claimingthe Papal title. However, in a remark-able statement of the unity of theChurch in this period of terrible perse-cution, the bishops from North Africa,Egypt, Italy and the Middle East allsupported Cornelius.At this time, there were somewhere

around 50,000 Christians in Rome. Thisseems a large number, but one has torecall that this was only around five percent of the population. These wereserved by about 50 priests and deacons.The Church was still small, but had cer-tainly grown significantly since the mar-tyrdom of St Peter. This did not stop theemperor from attacking it. Decius’ suc-cessor, the Emperor Gallus, launchedrenewed persecutions, and St Corneliusdied in exile at Civita Vecchia.With himdied many Christians: the Pope had seta powerful example and St Cyprian tellsus that ‘all Roman Christians were con-fessors.’Worse, however, was to follow.

(Clockwise from left) Popes Pontian,Anterus,Cornelius and Fabian were all instrumentalin ensuring that the Faith continued to growin its earliest days amid widespreadpersecution from the Roman Empire

A HISTORY OF THE PAPACY 21Friday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

DR HARRY SCHNITKER, in his series on the history of the Papacy, speaks of thesacrifices made by four of the earliest Holy Fathers to strengthen the Faith

22 CELEBRATING LIFE SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

EWTN PROGRAMMESSUN 23 SEPTEMBER7AMEWTN FAMILY CELEBRATIONSUNDAY MORNING SESSION—MASS10AMEWTN FAMILY CELEBRATIONSUNDAY TALK #1 MOTHERMIRIAM11AMTHE ANGELUS WITH POPEBENEDICT XVI1PMLIVE EWTN MASS3.30 P.MMARY’S DOWRY PRESENTS6PMTHE WORLD OVER9PMRIVER OF LIGHT10PMVATICANO11PMBENEDICTIONMON 24 SEPTEMBER1PMLIVE HOLY MASS7PMSTORY OF WALSINGHAM, THE:ENGLAND'S NATIONAL SHRINEOF OUR LADY8.30 P.MNEW SERIES: MY COUNTRY, MYFAITH—IRELAND9PMSISTERS OF ST CLAREKOKSTAD, KWAZULU-NATALTUES 25 SEPTEMBER1PMLIVE HOLY MASS

8PMTHE JOURNEY HOME9PMTHE ROAD UP TO THE KOLYMARIVERWED 26 SEPTEMBER1PMLIVE EWTN MASS9PMTHE GREATNESS OF ORDINARYLIFETHURS 27 SEPTEMBER1PMLIVE HOLY MASS8PMEWTN LIVE9PMPOOR CLARE NUNS: A LIFE FORGOD9.30PMPADRE PIO: MAN OF GOD(ENGLISH)FRI 28 SEPTEMBER1PMLIVE HOLY MASS8PMTHE WORLD OVER9PMRESTORATION OF THE BASILICAOF ST FRANCIS IN ASSISISAT 29 SEPTEMBER1PMLIVE HOLY MASS AND NOVENATO THE MOTHER OF GOD FORTHE NATION DAY 12.30PMST MICHAEL CLAIMS A CAVE,MOUNTAIN, & GROTTO7PMTERESA DE JESUS

LAY READERS’ GUIDEby Fr John Breslin

SUNDAY SEPT 23Sunday 25B. Wisdom 2:12. 17-20. Response: The

Lord upholds my life. James 3:16-4:3.Mark 9:30-37.

MONDAYProverbs 3:27-34. Response: The just will live in

the presence of the Lord. Luke 8:16-18.TUESDAY

Proverbs 21:1-6. 10-13. Response: Guide me,Lord, in the path of your commands. Luke 8:19-21.

WEDNESDAYProverbs 30:5-9. Response: Your word is a lamp

for my steps, O Lord. Luke 9:1-6.THURSDAY

Memorial of St Vincent de Paul. Ecclesiastes 1:2-11.Response:O Lord, you have been our refuge from

one generation to the next. Luke 9:7-9.FRIDAY

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11. Response: Blessed be theLord, my rock. Luke 9:18-22.

SATURDAYFeast of Sts Michael. Gabriel and Raphael. Daniel7:9-10. 13-14. Response: In the presence of theangels I will bless you, O Lord. John 1:47-51.

Do you have a specialoccasion from your parishor a celebration at yourschool that you wish toshare with the SCO? If so,

e-mail Dan McGinty:[email protected]

Celebrating Life

In July this year, members of Plains Lourdes Group once again enjoyed their annual pilgrimage to the town in the south of France made famousfor the Marian Apparitions. Pilgrims in the group came from Plains, Airdrie, Caldercruix, Bellshill, Paisley, Belfast and the Manchester area. AgnesLynch, one of the members of the group, said that pilgrims would like to express their thanks to ‘all our sponsors for their generosity and aspecial thanks to Alba Travel, who made our visit go smoothly, and to Park’s Coaches for a first-class journey’

By Dan McGinty

PUPILS from StAidan’s High School inWishaw welcomed Chinese students totheir school as the renowned PekingUniversity Chinese Orchestra made ahistoric visit to Scotland.The visit was the first time that members

of the 70-strong orchestra had travelled out-side their home country, and was organisedas part of the Silk Road project, which seeksto build innovative partnerships in educationand industry from China to Scotland.The visit also represented a once-in-a-

lifetime opportunity for pupils in the NorthLanarkshire Schools Symphony Orchestra toperform with the celebrated musicians asthey played a Mozart composition with theirChinese counterparts.

CultureProfessor Nigel Osbourne from EdinburghUniversity accompanied the orchestra ontheir visit and spoke of the value the tripwould have on both sets of young people.“This historic trip has captured the imag-

ination of all the students and schools theyare visiting, and the Chinese media who arewatching this trip with great interest,” hesaid. “Peking University is the top learninginstitute in a country of over 1.4 billion peo-ple and this group represents some ofChina’s elite students.“The orchestra is presenting concerts of

traditional Chinese music in celebration ofstrong links being developed between PekingUniversity and Edinburgh University andbetween China and Scotland. It is a greatopportunity for the pupils of StAidan’s to getto know what a young generation in China islike, see their interests, share knowledge andexperience a different culture.”

Pioneering advanceThe St Aidan’s pupils also took the opportu-nity to highlight the pioneering interdiscipli-nary learning at the school, showcasing areasof the school such as moral values anddebate through a CSI-style investigation ofthe school, developed by the school’s socialsciences department.“This was a wonderful occasion for the

school,” Tony Rooney, headteacher at StAidan’s said. “St Aidan’s has one of thelargest higher music groups in Scotland andthis was a tremendous experience for them.“I was delighted to be able to display

interdisciplinary learning at work within theschool, breaking down subject barriers, andto see pupils using the skills developed inone area of the curriculum elsewhere. Thisis an integral part of the curriculum forexcellence thinking.”

The visit, which was organised by the Tap-estry Partnership in conjuction with NorthLanarkshire Council, was supported by theScottish Government, Creative Scotland andthe Confucius Institute, which also has a hubat Our Lady’s High School in Cumbernauld,aiming to support the teaching of Chineselanguages and culture.

“We were absolutely delighted to wel-come such prestigious visitors to NorthLanarkshire,” Councillor Jim Logue, Con-vener of Learning and Leisure Services withNorth Lanarkshire Council, said.“As a council, we are very proud of our

musical talent and invest heavily in devel-oping our pupils musical skills. Learning toperform together helps youngsters developtheir self confidence and enjoy being part ofa wider group.

“China plays a huge roll in global affairsand it is important that our pupils are awareof the language and culture of other coun-tries to widen their future horizons.”


Peking orchestra duets with Scots

Musicians from the Peking University ChineseOrchestra with pupils from St Aiden’s (top),playing Mozart together (middle), and one of theChinese orchestra’s elite students (bottom)

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CELEBRATING LIFE 23Friday September 21 2012 SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

ROBIN House Children’sHospice in Balloch receiveda welcome boost to its fundsas pupils from St Mary’sPrimary School inDuntocher presented thehospice with a cheque formore than £1200.The money had been raised

by pupils in memory of PeterMcAnerney, the youngerbrother of Primary 7 pupilAnthony McAnearny, who wasinstrumental in organising andco-ordinating the fundraisingeffort throughout the year.Anthony worked with his

classmates to launch a number

of events in the school, includ-ing a Christmas shop sellingfestive goods, a sponsoredtriathlon—featuring running,football and an obstaclecourse—and a class charitybox, raising hundreds ofpounds in the process.Thanks to his hard work,

which also saw him create agarden of planters, which hesold at the St Mary’s SummerFayre, Anthony was able tohand over a cheque of£1000.33 to Robin House.Primary 6 pupils also joined

the fundraising effort by sup-porting Anthony through the

school newspaper. Selling morethan 1000 issues throughout theschool year, the enterprisingpupils turned a profit of almost£300, donating it in full toRobin House and bringing thetotal money raised to £1294.33.Robin House worker Janet

O’Connor was on hand at StMary’s to collect the cheque(above), and spoke of herdelight at the generous dona-tions, and assured pupils thatthe money they had raisedwould be put to good use at thehospice, helping to build a gar-den for the children and theirfamilies to play in.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien was welcomed to the parish of Our Lady of the Waves in Dunbar as parishionersenjoyed the annual summer fayre. The cardinal was joined by new parish priest Canon John Creanor andDeacon Gordon Graham (top) and local Catholics as he took part in the day’s fun and games (above)

PICS: PAUL McSHERRY

Primary pupils raise over £1200

Thousands pay respects to grandparents in IrelandBy Dan McGinty

GRANDPARENTS from acrossIreland were joined by pilgrimsfrom Scotland as thousands ofCatholics gathered in the Basilica atKnock Shrine in County Mayo forthe sixth National Grandparents Pil-grimage.The pilgrimage, organised by the

Catholic Grandparents Association(CGA), saw grandchildren honour theirgrandparents in a special service mark-ing the important part that grandparentsplay in the lives of children, particularlyin their spiritual development.Beginning with the Anointing of the

Sick and the Rosary, which was led byDr Peter and Mary Tiernan of theNavan branch of the CGA, the pilgrim-age focussed on Pope Benedict XVI’sUniversal Prayer for Grandparents, as,before the celebration of Mass, Cather-ineWiley—founder of the CGA—led aprocession of 80 pilgrims into the basil-ica carrying a framed copy of theprayer.Among the children in the procession

were pupils from St Aidan’s NationalSchool in Kilmanagh, who were joinedby children from Galway as they carriedbaskets of flowers and signs with slo-gans such as, ‘Grandparents are cool,’‘I love my Grandparents,’ and ‘Grand-parents are holy.’Bishop Bill Murphy of Kerry was

joined by Fr Joseph Gavigan, parishpriest of Ballyhaunis in County Mayo,and Fr Benny McHale, a well knownand much loved priest of Tuam Dio-cese, as he celebrated Mass in the basil-ica, welcoming the families who hadtravelled from all over Ireland andbeyond.

Among the many families presentwere three generations of the Lambertfamily, led by 104-year-old MichaelLambert, who presented the Offertorygifts.Fr McHale took the opportunity in

his homily to thank grandparents for thegreat influence they have on theCatholic upbringing of their grandchil-dren, advising them of the ways inwhich they can continue to pass on theirFaith to their grandchildren, prayingwith them and reminding them of thewonders of creation.Before the day concluded with a

Eucharistic Blessing, Mrs Wiley gaveher annual address to the assembledgrandparents, speaking of the progressthe association has made, with enquiriesfor membership coming from all over

the world, including Scotland.As the pilgrimage ended for another

year, the Catholic GrandparentsAssoci-ation acknowledged the major role theyhave been invited to play in the upcom-ing Year of Faith, which will be inau-gurated next month by the Vatican,asking members to be encouraged bythis vote of confidence and to continuetheir work in passing on the Faith.


(Above) pupils from St Aidan’s NationalSchool in Kilmanagh take part in aprocession. (Above, right) grandparents atthe Basilica at Knock shrine. (Right)Grandchildrens prayers

SPOTLIGHT ON...

24 MISSIONS MESSAGE SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER Friday September 21 2012SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

MISSIONS MESSAGEInspiring young mindswherever they may beMARION MORRISON, principal teacher of guidance in Lioncleit School in Benbecula and Scottish priest FR COLIN MacINNES,a missionary currently living and working in Atahualpa, Ecuador, speak of their mutual admiration for one another’s work

WEREAD in theCatholic pressof the wonder-ful work doneby Catholic

teachers in Catholic schools; ofthe high religious and educa-tional standards maintained in

the schools; the contribution thatCatholic schools make to raisingthe educational standards of thenational educational system.There are no Catholic schools

on the Hebrides but that does notmean that Catholic education isneglected. Through the years,

devoted Catholic teachersaccepted the responsibility ofgiving a solid grounding to thechildren in the Catholic Faith; ofpreparing them for First Com-munion and the Sacrament ofConfirmation.The Faith of the children on

the Isles rested and rests firmlyon the shoulders of the excellentCatholic teachers who taught inthe schools throughout theislands and throughout theyears. Marion Morrison, (right)along with other excellent teach-ers, keeps alive that admirable

tradition. As I was spending afew weeks at home in SouthUist I asked her to write a fewreflections regarding my pres-ence on the missions as a priestfrom the diocese. She gener-ously accepted the invitation.

At the start of term when Imade my way intoLionacleit School, Ben-

becula where I work as a princi-pal teacher of guidance, anEnglish teacher and a teacher ofreligious education, I could havebeen forgiven for wishing to beelsewhere—even in the foreignmissions—especially as my firstclass was an RE group of livelyfourth formers with whom I hadto cover a unit of work entitledThe Nature of Belief. As I strug-gled for inspiration and tried toanticipate obvious questionssuch as ‘do we have to believe?And the old canard ‘is every-thing not our choice?’ a sentencefrom the workbook caught myeye: “Some beliefs will lead usto actions which will have a sig-nificant effect on our lives andon the lives of others.”The rest of the text mentioned

the contributions to humanity ofpeople such as Martin LutherKing and Mother Teresa, but mythoughts turned to the people inour own community whoseactions are having a significanteffect on others. From the formerpupils of our school at least twocame immediately to mind: JohnPaul Mackinnon the quietest andmost unassuming of boys whoquietly answered the call tobecome a priest and who, ironi-cally, gained national recognitionin the television series An IslandParish. There was also GemmaSteele who left home to fulfil herdream of running an orphanagein Kenya and is still currentlymaking huge efforts in fundrais-ing for that initiative.But the person from our com-

munity who has made the mostsustained contribution to thelives of others in poverty is FrColin MacInnes.

Every year when we inductnew pupils into our schoolwe display a photo story,

set to music of the activities thattake place in our school.The theme of our induction

week focuses on our schoolmotto, Aonaibh Ri Cheile—roughly translated as ‘together asone.’A set of photos depicting FrMacInnes’ work in Ecuador isincluded in this presentation toshow our youngest pupils thatthe school motto has to be inter-preted as a global imperative.Wewant our pupils to be happy, butwe also gently remind them toconsider the lives of others whomay not be so happy.Fr MacInnes’ visits to the

school when he is home onleave help to keep him in ourthoughts and many of our pupilsare surprised to discover the

range of activities that a priest inthe missions can be engaged in—building projects, water pro-vision projects and many more—all of which have to be fundedand that is one way that we cansalve our own consciences andsay we have done our bit.However Pope Benedict XVI

recently emphasised the role thatthe laity has in the Church—arole of co-responsibility for giv-ing hope to humanity. He alsourged youths to embrace thechallenges of their Faith witnesswhen he spoke to them in Bella-houston Park so there is more toit for a teacher than just saying,‘good on you Fr MacInnes. Youcan put yourself on the front lineand we will support you from asafe distance.’On a bad day, those of us who

work at the chalk face with chil-dren may feel, as we strugglewith the imparting of religiousknowledge, that the priest whojets off to the missions has thelighter and perhaps happierload. All those lovely smilingchildren in developing countriesdesperate for education andlearning.What would I not give!Realistically, we cannot all go tothe missions. But the challengefor teachers is, how can we sup-port the people that make a dif-ference and how can wepersuade young people that theythemselves can put belief intoaction? How can we make themhave a significant effect?The first time I met Fr

MacInnes was when the villagehall in Iochdar was being built.He was climbing down a ladderin a boiler suit—spirit level inhand—and full on in the execu-tion of the project. Down theyears little has changed exceptthe venue. From Fr MacInnes’newsletters we learn that inEcuador, as in Iochdar, every-thing practical and spiritual isdone with great gusto and enthu-siasm and with the sense of pur-pose of one who knows what hisvocation is about. Hopefully weas teachers can inspire ourpupils to find their own way tomake a difference as we share alittle of the load of Catholic for-mation with parents through ourwork in schools.

� If anyone wishes to support FrColin MacInnesʼ missionaryeffort, donations can be madeout to Scottish Catholic ObserverCharity Appeal, 19 Waterloo St,Glasgow, G2 6BT

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"Cut here

Connie Wood (l) and Mary Doogan(r) believe directing and supportingstaff in doing abortions would bejust as bad as doing it themselves.SPUC agrees, and is funding themidwives' appeal.

Support the Glasgow midwives. Defend life.

Pro-life midwives battle for right NOT to be involved with abortionsIn February this year a judge in the Scottish Court of Session said that Glasgow midwives, Mary Doogan andConnie Wood, had to accept management instructions to oversee abortions performed by other midwives on thelabour ward.The decision means that Mary and Connie have effectively been denied the right toexercise conscientious objection— and their right to work in the labour ward wherethey have served the mothers and babies of Scotland for well over 20 years.

SPUC promises to continue funding for appeal hearingThe Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has shouldered all the legalcosts for the midwives. SPUC has undertaken this for three reasons:

· because Connie and Mary have made huge personal sacrifices (in terms of careers, reputation, finance) to fight this battle for the whole pro-life movement· because unless we support pro-life healthcare staff they will be driven out of NHS midwifery, nursing and medicine· because mothers and babies deserve the best of care, and that’s what midwives like Connie and Mary are committed to providing

Mary, Connie and many other pro-life midwives around the country show by their quietwitness that the pro-life movement cares about expectant mothers and newborn babiesas well as the unborn. Our opponents in the health system resent this bitterly. That iswhy, alongside other campaign commitments, SPUC has to fight to defend them. Themidwives' legal costs are expected to rise to £250,000.

‘Grave consequences’ if court ruling not overturnedIn a joint statement, Connie and Mary said: “The court’s decision, if not overturned, will surely result in very graveconsequences for anyone of conscience who wishes to choose midwifery as a career. Its impact on pro-life doctorsand nurses across the country is also likely to be significant.

YOUR DETAILS (please print)

Title_______ Full name___________________________________________________

Address_______________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Town________________________________ Postcode_________________________

*Email:________________________________________________________________

*Telephone:____________________________________________________________*please provide email and telephone details if you are happy to be contacted this way.

SCO0812/P2

Please help us to continue our vital pro-life campaigns and support Mary and Connie’s fightMy personal contribution is:

q £15 q £25 q £100

q £500 q £2,500 q £10,000

q £25,000 q £_________ Other

You can donate in these ways:• Online: http://goo.gl/9m3Sk • Telephone: 020 7091 7091 (office hours) • Fax: 020 7820 3131• Coupon to: FREEPOST SPUC (No stamp or other address required - cheques payable to SPUC)

The Society for the Protection of Unborn ChildrenDefending life with love from conception

3 Whitacre Mews, Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB

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PIC: ANTHONY MacMILLAN Religious freedom is key · Holy Father’s appeal for peace in Middle East...

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Transcript of PIC: ANTHONY MacMILLAN Religious freedom is key · Holy Father’s appeal for peace in Middle East...